Divine Hallows As
by Chronopie
Summary: What would happen if there were an extra person - a wizard at that - running around during the Book of Darkness incident? Enter Harry James Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, Man-Who-Won, wielder of the Intelligent Device Hallow.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Mahou Shojou Lyrical Nanoha, in any media form, be it book, manga, anime, or movie. All characters, places, and plotlines belong to their respective owners (i.e not me). I use the fan-subbed version of the Japanese dub episodes for quotation.

In this fanfiction, I've adjusted the ages of the MSLN protagonists slightly. An 18 year old, post DH Harry is not going to be comfotable fighting alongside girls barely half his age. The whole 'saving people thing' can expand to protecting them from themselves in such a case. So they're fifteen-sixteen year old high-schoolers instead, just a couple years behind Harry. (The age they were in the Epilogue of As, rather than the main body of the series).

Don't expect any shipping, at least not overtly, though there are hints of past H/G.

Harry's broken off from the Manipulative!Weasleys, and backstory will be provided.

Hints of Powerful!Grey!Harry, Manipulative!Weasleys, and, obviously, Powerful!Nanoha & Fate

* * *

A short, red-haired girl stood on air, alongside a blue-coated wolf.

"There are two powerful signatures nearby. If we can capture them both, we could easily gain fourty or fifty pages in the Book." The redhead spoke aloud. "Both appear to be suppressed though, and I can't get a direct fix."

In her head, for the jaws of a wolf weren't really shaped for vocalised speech, she heard the reply. "Let's split up and search for them. I'll leave the book with you." The wolf turned a hundred and eighty degrees.

The redhead nodded and shouldered her hammer. "Okay, Zafira. Search throughly, got it?"

"I know." The wolf, Zafira, leapt into the air, as a glowing red triangle formed around the girl. "Be careful, Vita. You don't want to face both of them at once."

She shrugged his warning off. "Barrier Field, Expand."

Her hammer itself responded, in a mechanical male voice. "=Magical Prison.=" And a sphere of purple-green energy engulfed the area.

Nanoha Takamachi was sitting at her desk, her orange hair done up with a pair of white ribbons, when she was startled by a ping from a red jewel. "=Caution, Emergency.="

Just as the sphere of expanding energy passed over her house. "A Barrier?"

As it did, the flying redhead exclaimed, "I've found one, the real thing. Let's go, Graf Eisen."

Harry James Potter, the-boy-who-lived, the-man-who-won, the-utter-bastard-that-upped-and-left, was walking along the street in Uminari City, Japan, when his ring rang like a chime. Then, a smooth, mechanical, but clearly female voice spoke. "=A barrier is forming, mi'lord="

As the energy washed over him, he noted a strong energy source flare to the West. If he had to guess, the individual letting off the energy had been peacibly minding their own business before the barrier was erected. The unknown individual was clearly heading his way, as said myterious person stopped atop the building directly to his left. From what Harry knew of this kind of barrier, it created a pocket of subspace within which magicals, like himself, entered, while muggles (non-magical individuals), were left in real space.

The reason she stopped was soon apparent, as a second magical individual approached at high speed from the East. Judging by their aura, this second individual was the one whom created the barrier.

And this second individual fired off a sphere of magic at the first, before moving at a vastly greater rate to behind the first. Harry barely heard her, and it was definitely a her, yell out; "Deadly Punishment!"

Within moments, the first, another girl, ginger haired, was launched off the building. Raher than panic though, she simply spoke. "Raging Heart, please."

Now Harry had some bad memories of ginger-haired fools, but understood, objectively speaking, that not all redheads were evil. Even if his one time best friend, ex-girlfriend, and former surrogate family were conniving manipulative wankers, Harry's own mother was a redhead too. So were several of his other schoolmates, for that matter.

A mechanical femine voice, much like his own ring, declared; "=Stand by, ready. Set up.=" A pink light surrounded her failing form, and her outfit morphed, as a staff took shape in her hands. She halted in midair. This 'Raging Heart' was obviously a device akin to Harry's own. One, hormonally driven piece of his brain was admiring her curves in all the right places, while the rest was pretending they weren't related to the first.

A shorter, slighter redhead followed her down, carrying a sledgehammer of some description, firing off more shots of (red) magic. They didn't resemble either stunners or reductors though. Within moments, the ginger-haired girl responding with a couple blasts of her own (which were, for some reason, pink). Rather than structured spells, these attacks seemed to be comprised of (contained) raw magic. Any one shot would have done serious damage to a muggle, but to any magical, the blasts would would be more akin to bludgers.

To put things in perspective, wizards like Harry liked to play a game sixty feet in the air, with these aforementioned bludgers being 25 pound cannonballs, flying at over eighty miles an hour, for fun, without protective armour.

As the redhead prepared another attack, the ginger charged up a powerful globe of magic, and her staff declared "=Divine Buster.=" Said 'divine buster' manifested as a beam of pink magic. All it hit was the redhead's hat.

Said redhead's eyes narrowed, before, with a few more words, her hammer drew on some source of concentrated magic, and warped into some kind of missile-on-a-stick. Swinging said missile/hammer around a few times, the redhead launched herself at the other.

Whom then put up some kind of 'protego' shield, again oddly pink. However, the redhead's hammer broke through the shield and launched the other girl, her clothing again changing, even as she was smashing into the very same building she'd been atop previously.

"I've seen enough. Hallow, let's go."

"=Set up. Serpent's Aegis.="

Within moments, Harry's muggle clothing was replaced by a set of black-green snake skin robes, nearly the colour of his hair, though they shimmered with a green light, and a silvery cloak, supposedly death's own cloak, hanging from his back. In his hands was a wooden staff with an emerald green stone mounted atop the end. Formerly the Elder Wand and Resurrection Stone, along with the Cloak of True Invisibilty upon his back, comprised the trio of legendary objects known as the 'Deathly Hallows'. When the three 'Deathly Hallows' were combined, they became so much more.

"Raven's Wings." Harry spoke quietly yet firmly. Twin masses of light resolved themselves into the form of blue and bronze wings, jutting out from under the cloak to both sides. "Lion's Claw." The staff that was once the Elder Wand glowed red and gold, reshaping itself in the form of a sword. And Harry leapt into the air, the Raven's Wings supporting him.

* * *

Harry had meant what he'd said, when he'd told Dumbledore's portrait that he wasn't going to go looking for the stone that he'd discarded in the forbidden forest.

Unfortunately, when he strode forth from the damaged castle that was Hogwarts, hiding under the Cloak to avoid the press, bloody parasites, intending to return the Elder Wand to the Grave of Dumbledore, the Resurrection Stone had flown towards him as though 'accio'd, though he'd done no such thing. Though he was concealed, it halted infront of him. Poking the Elder Wand out from under the Cloak, he wasn't prepared for when the Stone attached itself to the top of the Wand. "=Greetings, mi'lord.="

He quickly aborted his plans to stroll the grounds, and headed back to the Great Hall dazedly, not remembering to remove the Cloak. As he approached the grieving Weasley family, preparing to tell Ron, he was in the perfect position to overhear a rather disconcerting conversation.

"Mum, wasn't Harry supposed to stay dead when he who-must-not-be-named killed him?"

"It's just a temporary setback Gin-Gin." Percy, of all people, replied. "There's always an undetectable poison. We'll pass it off as the stress of yet another killing curse finally overwhelming him."

"We could pass it off as a Death Eater everyone missed taking a shot at him?" Charlie suggested. "He can only get lucky so many times."

"Poison won't work." Ron argued. "Ever since the encounter with the Basilisk, he's immune to them. I know, I've tried."

"It's alright." Molly said. "There's methods other than poisons, or even unforgivables, if those would even work. A reductor in the back should suffice though. Or, if he's shielded, a blasting curse to bring a roof down on him. Any number of spells will work. If all else fails, push him off the Astronomy tower."

Needless to say, Harry was shocked.

"And then we collect the money in his vaults, as according to the will, right?" Ron asked.

"Yes Ron." Ginny sighed, "We clean out the Potter and Black vaults. You really aren't the brightest are you?"

"Hey. My job was to make sure Harry didn't learn overmuch. Your job was to keep him pining for you. You just need to stay close enough to off him. That means you can't play the part of the school broomstick next year."

Harry frowned, trying to work out what the phrase 'school broomstick' meant... Then it hit him. 'School broomstick' likely corresponded with the muggle expression 'town bicycle'. As in, 'everyone's taken a ride'. With that in mind, there was no way Harry would ever touch Ginny, even without the discussion about poisons, unforgivables, and other assassination methods...

"Amortentia will keep him interested-"

Even with the subject matter at hand, Harry had to smirk. The combination of Basilisk venom and Phoenix tears in his blood had rendered him surprisingly immune to most mind controlling substances and spells. The Basilisk venom tended to break down any potions before they could act, meaning they needed to be altered for his unique bloodtype to work, and the Phoenix tears were as an extra layer of protection against spells, the purity of the Phoenix song driving off any invading possessive spirits and fortifying his will against the 'Imperious' curse.

"- Have you kept up with Hermione's doses?"

Ron snorted, "Of course. She'll fall right in to bed the moment I make a move."

Harry left the hall in a hurry, the only goal in his mind to drag Hermione up to Dumbledore's office and show her the memory in the Pensieve.

After Hermione saw the memory, she was as shocked as he had been. Still was in fact. Her instinctive reaction was to head straight for the dungeons, for a purging potion from the late Snape's own stock.

"I- I can't stay here Harry. I'm going to clear my system, then leave Britain. Maybe I'll go the Australia, find my parents. Stay there. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go overseas too, but I'm thinking of getting lost somewhere they don't speak English as a first language. Dumbledore left a series of memories for a number of languages, in a dream format that I was able to just dump straight in my head. French, German, Bulgarian, Cyrillic, Mermish, all the dialects of Chinese, Japanese, including both Kanji and Hiragana, and a dozen others besides. And the knowledge of how to recreate them." He spun out a set of silver threads in a matter of seconds. "These are your copy."

Hermione nodded, pressed the various threads to her temple, shivered with the sudden influx of knowledge, and left for the dungeon.

Harry, on the other hand, wandered numbly up to the seventh floor, where the Resurrection Stone spoke to him. "=Ask for the room that holds the Founder's Artifacts.="


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Neither the Harry Potter nor the MSLN universes belong to me.

Serpent's Aegis, Lion's Claw, Raven's Wings, and Badger's Resolve? Anyone seeing a theme?

* * *

As Harry rose to the level of the hole in the side of the building, a blonde girl, wearing black, and wielding a scythe of yellow magic, was facing down the hammer wielding redhead. The ginger was sprawled against the wall, her staff by her side and critically damaged, the jewel at it's center pulsing dully.

"Time Space Administration Bureau temporary mage, Fate Testarossa. If you don't resist, you will be granted the chance to plead in your own defense. If you consent to these conditions, drop your weapons."

"Who would do something like that?!" Yelled the redhead, before launching herself backwards out the window, right past Harry.

"Yuuno, I'll leave Nanoha with you!" The blonde, this Fate girl, yelled out, springing forwards.

"Yeah." The blonde boy agreed. For some odd reason, Harry was reminded of Malfoy, despite no real resembalence.

As the yellow-blonde Fate stopped infront of Harry, he put his sword across his shoulder. "I'm not with Hammergirl, who, by the way, attacked this... Nanoha? without provocation. I'm just a wizard in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes I feel like I've had the Chinese Curse placed on me."

Fate nodded and leapt into the air to pursue the redhead. The ash-blonde Yuuno, if that was infact his name, asked "What is this 'Chinese Curse' you speak of?"

"May you live in interesting times." Harry said, shrugging, "I don't see how much more interesting my life could get."

Yuuno laughed. "My life is far more interesting than I ever expected. You've fallen in with the epitome of interesting."

Harry shrugged again, and sat on the shattered edge of the window. "I am an epitome of interesting. So imagine the chaos when we two are in proximity. On a more serious note, this Fate girl looks to be better prepared. So who are you guys anyway?"

Yuuno blinked. And then twice more. "You're not from around here, judging by your accent, and I've not heard of you before now, nor the device you carry. Yuuno Scrya, TSAB temporary mage. Fate-chan is Fate Testarossa, of the same. This is Takamachi Nanoha," Harry recognised the Japanese form of family name preceding given name, "a high schooler, who, if we'd been here five minutes earlier, would already be a third-party consultant of the same. Arf-san is Fate-chan's familiar."

Harry nodded, though he still had no idea what this 'TSAB' actually was - just that it wasn't associated with the 'old crowd' that he'd fled Britain to escape. "Harry Potter, though I've been going as Aries Black recently. If you've heard any monikers from Britain, please forget them. I'm just a man on holiday."

* * *

Entering the Room of Requirement, Harry looked around with half-dead eyes. Ron and Ginny, the entire Weasley family, were plotting against him.

On various Pedestals scattered around the room, were artifacts of the founders. The ruined remains of Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's Locket, and Ravenclaw's Diadem... If only Harry had tried this room before traipsing across the entire British Isles for the better part of nine months.

The shapeshifting sword of Godric Gryffindor, last seem in Neville's hands as he decapitated Nagini. Making him one of just six people to destroy Voldemort's horcruxes. Seven if you count Volde's killing curse on Harry. Harry's destruction of Riddle's Diary. Dumbledore and the Gaunt ring. Ron and Slytherin's Locket. Hermione and the Cup. Crabbe's fiendfyre destroying the Diadem. Voldemort's curse. Neville and Gryffindor's sword. An exclusive club, made more so by the deaths of three of it's members.

Other artifacts Harry hadn't even heard of. An entire collection of rings. Pieces of armour, still more weaponry, an ink well with a raven engraved on the side.

Even as Harry explored the latest configuration of the room, the Elder Wand/Resurrection Stone had it's/their own idea. They/It was floating in the middle of the room.

"=Absorption.="

Harry's head snapped around, as green beams of light reached out from the black stone atop the twig of elder. Gyffindor's sword. A mannequin with a plaque listing the (Basilisk hide) robe as Slytherin's. Some bronze implement on the back wall, probably Ravenclaw's. A small shield with a badger engraved on the iron face. Several other objects, too quickly for Harry to track.

As each and every object touched by the light dissolved into pure magic, the Stone atop the Wand glowed a brighter green, losing the dull black sheen that had characterised it. One beam of light didn't absorb the object it touched though, instead placing the pair of glasses on Harry's face. Harry took them off momentarily, to note the Ravens etched upon both arms.

"=Operating check of the upgraded system has started. Added parts are in green condition.=" It rambled on for a bit longer. "=Stand by. Ready. Upon your order mi'lord.="

The words tumbled from Harry's mouth before he realised it. "Set Up."

* * *

Now safely upon the roof, Harry, Nanoha, and Yuuno were watching Fate and the redheaded girl fight. Well out to one side, another redhead, this one older and with pointed lupine ears protruding from her hair, was fighting with a darker-skinned, white haired man with blue ears in much the same shape.

Fate managed to get off some kind of body bind spell that Harry didn't recognise, stopping the hammer wielding redhead cold.

"State your name and the world you hail from." Fate demanded. "Explain your purpose for being here too."

As the smaller redhead struggled, the older, whom Yuuno pointed out as Arf-san, suddenly yelled out; "Something really bad is coming, Fate!"

No sooner had she spoken, than a pink-haired, armour clad swordstress made her appearance. The young redhead spoke a single word; "Signum."

Then this newly identified Signum ordered her sword. "Levantine, Cartridge Load." Said sword responded, in a faintly masculine voice. "=Explosion.=" And was wreathed in flames.

In just two strikes of this flaming blade, Fate's scythe was cleaved in twain, and she was slammed into a neighbouring roof.

She turned to the still-bound redhead. "What's wrong, Vita? Did you let your guard down?"

The small redhead, Vita, responded; "Shut up! I was just about to turn the tables on them!"

With deadpan humour, and no change in expression, Signum merely said "I see. I intruded upon that. Sorry." A purple light from her hand, and the strange binding cracked and shattered.

Signum then put the hat Vita had lost earlier, to Nanoha's beam, back on her head, minus the damage it had taken prior. Some kind of 'reparo' spell, Harry would gamble.

"Right now the situation is 4-on-3." Signum spoke. "But the blonde boy looks to bear a similar role to Shamal."

"But 1-on-1, we Belka-type knights..." Signum continued.

Only for Vita to finish off the sentence. "Will never lose!"

The pair flew down towards all of us.

Meantime Fate and her scythe 'Bardiche' had implemented some kind of repair function, which fixed the shaft of the weapon as though it hadn't been broken. Nanoha and her 'Raging Heart' seemed to be worse off though. Naonha had taken a direct hit from the hammer-missile, and the jewel within her staff was cracked and chipped. She was effectively out of the fight.

Fate leapt into the air, and Yuuno made to follow, but Harry stopped him.

"Given how quickly they disabled Nanoha and temporarily incapacitated Fate, do you think you'd be able to do anything more than get knocked around? I'll go. They proved themselves both the aggressors and, as far as I can tell, assaulted legitimate officers of law. I'm not one to sit by while criminals and terrorists go about their illicit business." As he leapt into the air, he added a rider. "Of course, if your administration proves as corrupt as the one I left Britain to escape, I might reconsider which side I'm on. Sometimes the only difference between Terrorist, and Freedom Fighter, is which side of the fence you're on."

Yuuno shook his head. "They attacked Nanoha when she was doing her homework. Hardly actions of the innocent."

Harry considered for a moment, then nodded. His Blue and Bronze wings flared wide, and he took off, chasing Fate.

Fate re-engaged with Signum, clearly a grudge match. The pair met and clashed in midair repeatedly.

Harry, on the other hand, was faced with the irascible Vita. "Vita, right? My name's Harry, my weapon is Hallow, and I'll be your opponent."

She nodded in acknowledgement, before bringing her hammer to bear. "Graf Eisen."

* * *

Looking over the remaining Founder's Artifacts, Harry only shook his head. Somehow, and he knew not, the Deathly Hallows, or as it called itself 'Hallow', was a semi-sentient 'device', capable of channelling Harry's magic in new and interesting ways. It's choice in artifacts was an attempt to rebuild itself and it's functions, after the Peverells had shattered it into a multitude of pieces. That three pieces survived either meant that they'd done a good job, or a terrible one. And the Stone was the core of the device.

The Robe he was now wearing... It was very much like the one that had adorned the wall only moments earlier, though it also seemed... more. More solid, more real. Additionally, the third piece of Hallow, the cloak, had manifested spontaneously on his shoulder, Though he wasn't currently rendered invisible.

With the events of the last fourty-eight hours turning over in his head, Harry decided upon his next course of action.

Leaving thirty silver sickles on Ron's former bed in Gyffindor tower, and the relevant text from the bible, which the room of requirement had provided, Harry vowed that he would never return to Britain.

"~I've made the preparations to transfer, but I can't break through their spatial barrier! Arf!~" Harry jumped, startled, having never been a recipient of directed telepathy before. The closest he'd known was a message delivered via legilimancy, and Yuuno was nowhere near Harry's position.

"~I'm also doing my thing here, but this barrier is really hard!~" Arf protested. Somehow a wolfgirl had telepathy. Nope, not weird at all. Interesting times indeed. But Harry's owl had been all but telepathic too, so his definition of normal was a little skewed.

Fate got smacked into another building, where she then concluded, and advised via Telepathy, that the cartridges their opponents were using temporarily boosting their power.

Harry wasn't question the providence of this Telepathy that he'd been included in, but it seemed a useful skill to have, so he resolved to acquire the method for his own.

"~Fate-chan, Yuuno-kun, Arf-san... Harry-san... I'll destroy the barrier, so match your timing with me and transfer everyone!~"

The others expressed concern over whether she'd be able to in her condition.

"~I'm fine! I'll break through it with Starlight Breaker!~" Whatever 'Starlight Breaker' was, I got the feeling it was powerful. Very powerful.

"=Count IX. VIII. VII. VI. V. IV. III. III. III. III...=" A mass of raw magic began to form in front of her, draining the power from the very air itself.

"Raging Heart, are you alright?"

"=No Problem. Count III. II. I.="

Nanoha gasped. Everyone froze. Somehow, a hand, wreathed in green magic, was sticking out of her stomach.

"What the fuck?" Harry muttered.

Fate made to help Nanoha, but Signum blocked her way.

The hand seemed to retract, before jutting out her chest. Something was pushed out infront of it. Her Magical Core.

Harry don't know how it was happening, but all of a sudden, the magic began to drain from it. No spell he knew could drain a person's magic directly like that.

"Oh hell no." Harry growled. He rushed towards Nanoha's position too, only to have Vita appear infront of him. He would have apparated directly, but the Barrier acted like any other anti-apparition ward. Instead of stopping, like Fate had, Harry instead yelled "Badger's resolve!" His robe glowed yellow (and black, but the robe was already black), and his charge simply sent Vita flying.

He, crudely, took hold of the intruding hand. And snapped the pinky finger.

A scream from somewhere to the right, and the hand withdrew. Vita, Signum, and the as-of-yet-unnamed wolf all yelled out "Shamal!"

"=Count 0.=" Harry dropped to the ground. He was right in the firing line after all.

Nanoha staggered. "Starlight... Breaker!" An absolutely colossal beam of pink magic tore through the barrier like tissue paper. As the barrier collapsed, so did she. Harry caught her just before she hit the ground herself.

Setting her down softly, Harry leapt back into the air. "Sonorus. [b]If your 'Shamal' sticks her hands where it's not welcome again, I'll do more than break a couple bones. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?![/b]"

As these so-called Belka-type knights converged on the point this Shamal was residing, Nanoha's allies regrouped on the rooftop.

From nowhere, another voice rang out. "This is the Time Space Administration Bureau ship first class Asura. You are under arrest, Lay your weapons down, and put your hands on your head."

Vita was supporting Shamal into the air, as the four seemed to hold a telepathic conversation of their own. Shamal was cradling her left hand, and the broken finger was already swelling. Vita shot Harry a look of pure venom, before they fled in four beams of light.

Far less officious sounding now, the mysterious voice cursed. "We couldn't get a fix."

* * *

A/N: It's always bugged me how Yuuno manages to hold his own against Vita, when she disposed of Nanoha so quickly. This is the same Yuuno that couldn't handle a single Jewel Seed beast by himself in the original series.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and MSLN belong to other people. I make no profit from this work of fanfiction.

Bits of MSLN As episodes 3 /and/ 4. Slight adjustment to the canon timeline. 

* * *

After the room of requirements, and a brief stopover in the Gyffindor tower, Harry had only a couple more stops to make. But before he could manage that, he ran across Hermione in the Entrance hall.

"Oh Harry, you scared me."

"You flushed your system then?"

"I hope never to need another one. Unpleasant doesn't begin to cover it. What are you going to do about the Weasleys?"

"I had been considering retaliating in kind, bring a roof down on them, but I thought better of it."

"So... Where are you going to go?"

"First, Gringotts. We were lucky enough to not get identified after all. 'Bellatrix' and co. went in, set off the thief's downfall. They don't know that Harry, Hermione, and Weasley were the ones to come out adragontop. At least, they haven't had the chance to put it all together. I'm going to clear out my vaults."

"Like the Weasleys were planning to?" She smirked.

"Exactly." Harry grinned lopsidedly. "Them I'm taking a vacation, as far from Britain as possible. I will be some time. Possibly a lot of time. What about you? Still Australia?"

"I'm thinking I ought to go find my parents before anything else. And I'll be telling them I'm not coming back to England either."

"Want me to come along? I have nowhere I need to be."

"Thanks for the offer Harry, but this is something I have to do for myself." 

* * *

Thankfully Hallow, unlike both Raging Heart and Bardiche, hadn't been damaged in the fight with the Velka-type knights.

Unfortunately, it meant that Harry was stuck on the ship Asura for no real purpose.

"Hallow, Death's Cloak."

"=As you wish, mi'lord.=" And with that, Harry was concealed from the world.

He made his way to the bridge, to find Chrono Harlaown and his officer Amy.

"So what do you think of these knights Chrono-kun? And this Harry-kun too?"

He frowned. "Signum." An image of the Pink haired knight popped up. "Vita." The redhead with the temper to match. "Shamal." The green trim on the robe, along with the reactions earlier, convinced Harry once and for all that it was her finger he broke. "And Zafira." The screen displayed two images, the first the blue wolf, the second the dark skinned, white haired man. Harry simply shrugged. Something along the lines of an animagus if he had to guess. A few seconds later: "Harry. What conclusions can you draw Amy-san?"

"Well... Harry-kun isn't using a cartridge system, but I haven't seen any indications of specifically Mid-Childan or Belkan magic."

"And then we have to consider his actions towards the he fought them, but was that just to get closer to us on the Asura?"

"He broke Shamal's finger though. Anyone just faking would have to be a coldhearted individual."

Harry deactivated the stealth feature. "A point you missed, is that, prior to today, I didn't know this ship even existed. Let alone sentient life on other planets. On the other hand, as I told Yuuno, if you and yours turn out as corrupt and bigoted as the government I travelled half way around the world to escape... Well, I am one of the most powerful individuals I know of, even here."

"Is that a threat, Potter-san?"

"I'm not Japanese, so you can drop the honourifics without disrespect. And I don't make threats, I make promises. I have yet to meet an individual with more power at their disposal than I have at mine. Though those cartridges of raw magic were a surprise, I must admit. Other than me... Well, those Nanoha and Fate girls are still growing into their power, but once they hit full maturity, they'll come pretty damn close. By the time they reach seventeen... Anyone's guess between the three of us, though I still have a few years experience. And then there's that ghost signature somewhere in the city."

"What do you mean 'Ghost signature' Harry-kun?" Amy asked. She seemed a lot more trusting than this 'Chrono' person.

"Its power reminds me of someone who has a lot of magical power, but they can't use it. If I had to describe it, it would be like a dam holding back water. My worry is that it might be connected to that cursed grimoire. The... 'Book of Darkness' I think you called it."

"Is that your angle, Potter-san?" Chrono asked, accusatory. "You mean to acquire the book for yourself."

"Look, kid, the only thing I'd want to do with a cursed grimoire is drop some fiendfyre on it." At their looks of confusion, he relented. "Fiendfyre is a magical fire that consumes and destroys other magic. Not easy to conjure up, very difficult to control. The more magic it eats, the hotter it burns, the faster it moves, and the more widely it spreads. The only thing I'd do with said cursed grimoire is let loose this magic-eating fire at it."

"I'm not sure that even that would destroy it. It's an ancient artifact, that lies partially outside our dimension. When either it or it's current master is destroyed, or it's completed and runs rampant, it's unmade, and reformed on another world."

"So if we destroy it, we just lose it, and have to deal with the same problem again in a dozen years? Bugger."

"That about sums it up. Our best chance is to capture the guardians and use them to lure out the book and it's master both, then capture them."

"And these knights are linked to it... how?"

"They were once living beings, many millennia ago. Now, they're part of the Book. They appear once the book becomes active, when it finds it's master. The knights are fiercely loyal to their master, the completion of the book, and each other, in that order. Nothing else matters to them."

Harry managed to stay two steps ahead of the Weasleys. With his soon to be newly liberated funds, he would need something to carry them in. So his first purchase was a moke-skin pouch, on which he added undetectable expansion and featherlight charms.

Within his coinage vaults, he simply levitated the lot and began to feed it in. Within the family artifact vault, however, he felt Hallow awaken. It released a green beam of light, which struck an ornate (and rather flashy) bow. The light also played over one arrow in the quiver, but it didn't get converted. Harry simply assumed it was so Hallow would be able to shape arrows of raw magic.

Waving his wand in complex patterns, the various pieces of antique furniture, already shrunken and stacked, began to line up within a crate Harry conjured for just that purpose.

Hallow's beam only played out twice more inside the vault: A silver hourglass that, rightly, brought back memories of both his third and (to a lesser extent) fifth years. A timeturner. Though just how a timeturner would benefit a semi-sentient stone, Harry had no clue. The second was over a full collection of english-runic dictionaries. Hallow knew more of ancient runes than Harry did. The third was an Arithmancy tome.

Harry made one last transaction, thirty sickles to the Weasley vault, then closed his accounts at Gringotts. He half-expected them to howl in anger, or some such rot. Instead, when he gave his reason as emigration overseas, the teller nodded and handed him a card.

"That card, Mister Potter, will serve as an introduction within any branch of Gringotts the world over. We wish you luck."

Down Diagon Alley, Harry sold off his unneeded possessions, garnering more than a bit of extra gold. He made his way through a great many shops, buying, selling, and trading as he saw fit. Likewise Knockturn Alley proved to be advantageous. It was down there that he picked up one of the few items he was going to keep. A pensieve of his very own. He purchased and shrunk two dozen cases of butterbeer (Just shy of six hundred bottles), grabbing one more 'for the road', then took his final steps towards abandoning Britain forever. 

* * *

People bustled and blustered over the next few days while Nanoha recovered from the partial drain of her core.

"Umm... Harry-san?"

"Fate, right? As I was telling the others, you can drop the honorific. What can I do you for?" She flushed red and started doing a goldfish impression, or perhaps, given locale, a koi impression. "Foreign slang, don't take it the wrong way."

"Oh, well... I just wanted to thank you for saving Nanoha-chan."

"I didn't do it for your thanks, I did it because it was the right thing to do. They were the aggressors. I picked a side. Nanoha was in trouble. I doubt they were trying to kill her... Maybe drain her of her magic, but not kill her."

"Well, your actions meant that she was only out for a few days. So, thank you."

Harry waved her off. "I've been told, more times than I can count, that I have a 'saving people thing.' Usually by my best friend. So, just doing my thing."

"Just thought you ought to know. And by the way, the TSAB is offering you a temporary commission too, just like Nanoha-chan and I."

"Aid until the current threat is neutralised? Wouldn't be my first time taking up such a job."

"And the command team is moving down to Uminari City until the crisis is resolved. Isn't that great?"

"I guess it must be, since it's got you so excited." Harry said placidly. "I'll be sticking around town for a while too, I guess. It's been a while since I've been able to let loose like that."

"Harry-san said he was going to stay until the Book of Darkness issue is resolved. Isn't that great Nanoha-chan?"

Do you have a crush on the tall, dark and handsome stranger Fate-chan? All we know is that he's not from around here and that we don't know how he does the magic he does. Or even his magic colour."

"Wasn't he talking to you and Yuuno on the rooftop?"

"He was curious about our spell structures, not giving away personal details. Did you see any of his fight? His device is green, his wings were blue, his sword was silver, and he was firing mostly red beams. Mostly."

"So what we know is that he has unruly, raven-black hair, that I want to run my fingers through, and dreamy emerald eyes. He's not overly tall, nor bulky, but he does have a toned body, and looks more built for speed than strength. He's a natural in the air, doing manoeuvres even I'd have called suicidal, and looking like it's commonplace. Is that about it?"

"When he was fighting Vita-chan, his spells all seemed structured for specific effects, and I think that the structure his magic system falls under imposes a colour on his attacks. Other than that, I think his aura might be gold."

"Not the red he seemed to favour?"

"Old gold maybe. Kind of like a duller, slightly browny colour compared to yours Fate-chan. Maybe it's goldenrod. Some kind of gold at least."

* * *

Who would have suspected that the-boy-who-lived would ever bandy around Fiendfyre? After a quick once-over of Grimmauld place, taking everything of value, making sure there was truly nothing he wanted to keep inside (nor that Hallow wanted to salvage), he set a peculiar shield spell on the outer boundaries of the building, and set the cursed fire.

Happily, the shield spell Harry set did manage to contain the blaze, and it was sweet, sweet music to the ears as the portrait of Walburga Black burned.

Stop number two was a certain house on Privet Drive. "Sixteen years, sixteen years these bastards gave me hell. Accio gold. Accio silver. Accio jewels. Accio gemstones." One set of shields later... Add fiendfyre.

Stop number three was The Burrow in Ottery Saint Catchpole. Such a weird name. Perhaps unfortunately, the Weasleys were still at Hogwarts. First Harry removed their family clock, noting the now defunct hand belonging to the dead twin. Secondly, he blasted the hands showing himself and Hermione right off the clock. No need to give them any way of tracing him. Then he went through the house, room by room, summoning all the gold, silver, bronze, and gems. It wasn't much of a collection, but it did end lining his pockets nonetheless. Then came the fiendfyre.

All he left, on the path to the door of the now obliterated house, was the clock and thirty silver sickles. With a smile on his face, whistling a happy tune, he Apparated away. 

* * *

"Part #CVK-792... Isn't that the Velka-type cartridge system?"


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: MSLN and HP belong to other people. I own nothing.

A/N: A Claybeg is also known as a Scottish Broadsword. A single-handed, straight-bladed, basket-hilted, double-edged sword, heavier than a rapier.

* * *

A man with unruly black hair and green eyes twirled merrily away from a massive beam of pink energy that obliterated the building behind him, even as he called cheerfully up to the girl dressed in white who fired it. An answering smile tugged at her lips before she angled the oddly-shaped staff in her hands to again point down at him, energy gathering at the curious red jewel floating at the gold-crowned arc of her weapon...

A girl with pigtailed auburn hair and violet eyes somersaulted over the jets of red light that tore chunks out of the masonry behind her, even as she remarked to the raven clad man firing them. A quirk of the lips, a lopsided smile, and he pointed his claybeg directly at her, the silver blade glowing cherry-red with another spell, the emerald green stone floating in the open air between the guard and the blade, the entire sword a magical contruct...

"Interesting weapon Harry-kun. What kind of sword is it?"

"First time I used it, it took the form of an oversized Claymore. A Scottish Highlander Greatsword. Two-handed, two and a quarter metres, and I used it to kill a sixty metre long basilisk. Basilisks are highly venomous snakes that can kill anyone that looks it in the eyes. When Griphook 'acquired' it, it shrunk to a goblin-sized Rapier. Whereas for Neville it took the form of a traditional knight's Arming Sword. Now it's in the shape of a Scottish Broadsword."

"You let others use your device freely?"

"It wasn't part of my device at the time. Hallow absorbed it as part of an upgrade process. It was always a shapeshifting blade though. The spellcasting through the blade is courtesy of Hallow too. I note your device doesn't have any close combat forms though Nanoha, why is that?" A moment of silence, and Harry looked over to see her flushed face. Catching on, he made a halting apology. "Nanoha-san? Nanoha-chan? I apologise, I'm not used to the Japanese honorific system."

"Yobisute - that is, failing to include honorific, is traditionally reserved for family and close friends, and done without permission constitutes an insult." She was biting her lip. Probably deciding whether or not to let Harry's inadvertent insult slide.

"For the record, feel free to drop the honorific on my behalf. I'd like to think that anyone that can take one of my hits with a smile deserves that honour."

"Your rapid-fire shots put mine to shame, Harry-kun. Do you have any devastators?" The spell Harry had, had hesitated for a moment with the translation of the last word. It probably didn't have any direct translation.

"The only ones I can think of, that I'd be willing to use, would be fiendfyre, and a siege-weapon grade breaker spell. Fiendfyre is, as I told Chrono... -san? earlier, an incredibly dangerous magic-eating fire. The siege-breaker is used for crushing not only shields, but things like castle walls. I wouldn't want to know what that would do to a person, but it wouldn't be pretty. My recent personal project has actually been modifying the siege-breaker to do no harm to organic matter. My third spell, which I swore never to use unless I have no other option, is basically my entire magical strength concentrated into a single point. But I'm rambling. I can't redirect my standard shots though, unlike yours."

"I'm a ranged specialist, so it's a useful talent."

The loudspeaker set on the wall blared into life. "Would Harry-sama please report to the bridge."

"Isn't -'sama' equivalent to 'lord'? I was trying to get away from that."

* * *

"Harry-sama. Lord Potter. We've made more extensive scans of non-administrated world #97, informally named Earth, and have found anomalies that have the TSAB considering taking a more active stance on the planet, officially dubbed 'Terra'."

"So what exactly are these anomalies?"

"In the North- and South-American, Britain, Continental European, and Oceanian regions, collectively designated by native Terrans as the 'Western Hemisphere', though geographically inaccurate, we have found evidence of widespread magical culture, concealed from surface level scans by an unfamiliar type of barrier. Lesser communities of the same have been revealed worldwide."

"That would be what we call 'wizarding' culture. Hallow, wand."

"=Mi'lord.=" His faithful Holly and Phoenix feather wand appeared in Harry's hand.

"Witches and Wizards use Wands instead of devices, channelling their magic through their bodies, with the wand, gesture, and spoken word acting as focuses to achieve specific effects. For a basic example..." With a swish-and-flick motion; "Wingardium Leviosa." The seat on which Chrono was sitting floated into the air. "More powerful wizards can forgo one or more focii. For instance, I need neither spoken word nor gesture to achieve certain effects, and can forgo wand and word for others. Casting by only spoken word is far less common though."

"And these applications of magic are far more varied than what we've seen in any other single monitored world. We've seen Singularian style instant travel. Matter erasure, replication, duplication, and manipulation. Spontaneous creation of fire, ice, and water, among other things, and something we're having trouble identifying." He waved his hand, showing a recorded clip of professor McGonagall turning her desk into a pig, clearly a demonstration for some new muggleborn. "Inanimate matter being transformed into an animate, non-sentient being." A second clip of the professor's animagus transformation. "And sentient to non-sentient transformation."

"To be fair, she retains full awareness and control during that last transformation. I'd demonstrate my own, but there's a lack of room in here." The discovery and transformation for Harry's animagus for had been fast-tracked by the integration of Hallow with his core. "As for the rest, the only explanation we have is 'Magic'. It can be used for almost any effect you can think of. The only thing we can't do with magic is to truly reanimate a corpse who's sentience and magical core activity has ceased. And, of course, we can't give a magical core to a being without one, nor unblock one that's dammed up. Though to be fair, we can't steal magic from a core like that Shamal was doing to Nanoha-chan either."

"How much room would you need for turning into an animal Harry-kun?"

"Well... Probably the training room. I'm a black coated Nundu. You know what a panther is, Nanoha-chan?" She nodded. "Much, much larger, with silver claws, real silver, and my bite in that form is venomous. Much, much larger. Think a panther, but eight foot tall at the shoulder." Even as Harry was speaking, first officer Amy was creating a computer composite sketch. "A bit more muscular... That's pretty close actually." What he wasn't telling people was that his form was an exception. Nundus typically resembled leopards, not panthers, had toxic breath, not basilisk-grade venomous bites, and, though their claws were able to shred steel, they were not normally comprised of goblin-silver. Hallow's integration of Gryffindor's sword, and the Basilisk Venom not only contained within, but within Harry's blood too, into his animagus form made him a formidable Nundu. He didn't know if he could cry healing tears, or whether he'd taken any other properties of a Phoenix (like rebirth), but he wasn't about to risk finding out.

And, of course, he somehow neglected to mention that he was a full grown, adult human, but his eighteen year meant that he was still only a juvenile in Nundu terms. He'd end up twenty feet tall at the shoulder around age forty.

Upon the Asura, in low earth orbit, the next day.

"Reports are coming in. Our agents have located and isolated targets Vita and Zafira. Agents have been given holding instructions of 'Do not engage' on the perimeter. Admiral Harlaown-sama, what is your order?"

"The only individuals capable of matching Vita and the other knights in combat are Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, and Harry-dono."

"I do wish you wouldn't use that honorific. I have no relevant titles."

"Latest intel has the knight Signum closing on their position, and in all likelihood, Shamal too. This could turn from an isolation and containment into a rout. Orders sir?"

"Let Signum through, close Shamal out. Send Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, and Arf-san. Let them test out the new and improved Raging Heart and Bardiche. We'll keep Harry-dono in reserve. Chrono-kun, your task is to keep an eye out for their mage, Shamal."

"We wouldn't be able to stop Signum anyway."

"My task, Admiral?" Harry asked. "Am I being kept in reserve in case the new systems develop a flaw, or in case the master of the tome makes an appearance?"

"Ideally you won't be needed, but both cases are a possibility."

As Nanoha, Fate, and Arf were transported to the relevant location upon the surface, Harry and Admiral Lindy started talking.

"The second level scans, the ones that revealed your wizarding culture, as you call it, showed us some interesting factoids."

"Do tell. I assume it's to do, at least tangentially, with me, or you wouldn't have wanted for the others to leave."

"Quite a bit actually. When were you going to reveal that you were a genuine, titled, lord of the British realm? That you were hailed for single-handedly ending not one, but two wars? That you had a pile of silver?"

"I left Britain to get away from that, never, and Silver? Not gold?"

"Gold's easy to find, on almost every administered and non-administered world. Silver is far rarer."

"After the current 'negotiations' have been concluded, I need to go back to the bank, and trade my gold for silver."

"We aren't permitted to induce precious mineral imbalances on non-administered worlds."

"Four things things. Firstly, I'm a private citizen of this unadministered world, so your TSAB rules have no authority over me. Secondly, the cache of gold I'm planning to trade originates on Earth, and would have been similarly stashed away. Thirdly, On this world, gold is rarer than silver, so I'm reducing such an imbalance by transferring my funds to such a material medium. And fourthly, they're my possessions, this is my homeworld, and they originate here, as do I. Thus I ought to have the freedom to do with them as I wish... Unless you weren't planning to allow me to take my possessions with me? And, quite incidentally, fifthly, without Nanoha and Fate onboard, I could quite literally hold your ship to ransom, as I have that much raw power at my disposal. Not that that's a threat or anything."

"If you were going to hold us to ransom, why would it matter if Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan were on board?"

"Because the pair of them, together, have more power than I have alone, and twice the number of intelligent devices. I'll always have more power than either of them, it's the both together that I have a healthy respect for."

"How much of an imbalance?"

"On a base of one hundred, with a exponential progression... If I were the hundred of course, Nanoha is about a sixty five, Fate a sixty. Everyone onboard the Asura, excluding those two, comes to about 150, with you personally falling around about fourty, and since it's a exponential progression, I'm not two-and-a-half times more powerful than you, I'll several magnitude more powerful... But there are a grand total of three intelligent devices anywhere near the Asura, and mine is the only one on board. You know whom the other two belong to, and I assure you, they do make a difference."

"So you're telling me, in a casual manner, that you could obliterate the crew of this ship if you were so inclined. And only Fate-chan or Nanoha-chan could stop you?"

"Either of them, plus the crew, or the pair of them together, assuming you could work together seamlessly. Of course, in a few years, either alone might give me a real challenge. Their power will peak at age eighteen, give or take a bit. That's about two and a half years each, if I'm right. That will put them in the high eighty to low ninety region. I've stabilised. Then it'll come down to intelligent device use and tactics." He smiled. "But this is all hypothetical, because you're letting me take my possessions with me, right? Did you have any other questions?"

"Just a couple. Firstly, how much silver could you get for your gold? To understand your relative wealth."

"To the best of my knowledge, I have approximately fifty-thousand Galleons. The gold coinage. At the exchange rate for the currency, that's about 850 thousand sickles." Harry pulled each a galleon and a sickle from his moneypouch. "These are pure metals, I should add, though they are enchanted so as to be difficult to melt-down or forge. Difficult in that the enchantments take a great deal of power to break." Harry smirked. "But then again, I have power enough to do so."

At the shear number of silver coins Harry would be able to acquire, and the knowledge that the metal was unadulterated, Admiral Lindy was more than a little surprised. "Alright... You're way beyond rich, with that much Silver. Second question, How much of your life story is true?"

"Newborn through fifteen months, I lived with my parents, whom were in hiding for part of the time. Peter Pettigrew, the secret keeper for the charm, literally the only one able to tell others where they were hiding, betrayed their location to the dark wizard that killed them. My mother made use of a blood-based magic, powered by her sacrifice, to save my life. I spent the better part of the next ten years with my magic-intolerant aunt, and her husband and son, both of whom were obese bullies. From eleven through eighteen, in theory, I would've attended Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. My first year at Hogwarts, I was technically responsible for a professor's death, though in reality he was already doomed, as he was possessed. I only really exorcised him. My second year, I killed a highly venomous, sixty metre long snake. That's not an exaggeration either, I sold the carcass for a significant pile of money, so I know the measurement's accurate. Third year, I had a tangle with a werewolf and a race of soul-sucking psuedo-demonic creatures. Fourth year, I was entered, by a terrorist no less, into a magically binding tournament that had seen previous champions die. Outflew a dragon, swam into an icy-cold lake to retrieve a hostage from a merpeople village, and was kidnapped from a maze and involuntarily used as part of a resurrection ritual. I escaped with my life. Fifth year, the British magical government installed a dictator in the school, whom practise a form of dark-magical torture. We saw her run off. Then I, along with five others, tangled with a cell of twelve terrorists, and their chief, and came out the better. Sixth year was wierd. No one was acting quite like themselves, and the only real significant act was the headmaster dying at the hands of a triple agent, as part of his cover with the terrorists. What would otherwise have been my seventh year, the terrorist organisation had taken over the magical government through a combination of mind control and assassinations. And yes, there is a spell for mind control, and yes, I do know how to use it. Anyway, I, along with my best friend, and a second supposed ally, spent the year hunting down and destroying dark artifacts, in order to render him mortal. Then, in an anticlimactic battle, he was killed by a ricocheting spell. I reassembled several pieces of my intelligent device, Hallow, which then awakened, and guided me towards further potential components, which it autonomously integrated."

"Eventful. Yuuno suggested that you'd seen your share of adventure, but I thought that might have been an exaggeration."

"I solemnly swear that none of what I have said so far in this conversation is a falsehood." A flash of magic. "Expecto Patronum." A silver Nundu leapt forth from Hallow, currently sitting as a ring on his hand. "That was a magical oath, verifying my statement, with accompanying proof. The silver creature was a scaled down representation of a Nundu, by the way. Next question?"

Alarms flared. "No time, Harry-sama, that was Chrono-kun's alarm, an unknown, powerful entity has entered the field in support of the Wolkenritter. You're up."

As the silver cat was about to fade, Hallow gleamed on Harry's finger.

In the brief time it took for Harry to be transported ground-side, Shamal had already sacrificed quite a few pages of the Book of Darkness to shatter the TSAB agent's barrier. As he touched down and got his orientation, Shamal spotted him, and paled. He caught the very edge of the Wolkenritter's mental communications.

"~It's HIM-~" he missed the next few words, but it was still Shamal that he was hearing. "~-Emergency evacuation.~

"~-Full retreat.~" A smooth female voice advised, Harry mentally tagging the voice as belonging to the wolkenritter knight, Signum.

Harry grinned. "Hey Shamal, how's the hand?"

Her eyes wide, she fell over herself trying to back away.

"Harry! Quit playing around and help me."

"Keep your knickers on Chrono." Harry growled, even as he broke Chrono's bindings. He turned to see a tall, blue-haired masked man. "So you're working with the Wolkenritter... What do you stand to gain from the Book of Darkness's completion? Even I can tell that the Tome is cursed. Though it might be more accurate to call it malicious, as it apparently has a form of sentience." Shamal gasped behind him, and he turned back, frowning. "Are you telling me you didn't know? Hallow, scan entity 'Shamal' for memory blocks."

"=Yes mi'lord.=" A moment passed. "=Subject Shamal is not suffering memory blocks. Subject Shamal has been subjected to memory erasure, but they appear to have been erased wholesale. No recovery is possible.="

"Sorry Shamal."

"Harry! Stop fratenising with the enemy and capture her!"

Exasperated, Harry turned back to Chrono and dropped a 'Silencio.' When he turned back around, Shamal had departed in a rush of spring-green light. He keyed his communicator. "Shamal has escaped, but I've placed a tracking charm on both her and the mystery masked man. We'll be able to track her straight to her master."

"Harry?" Admiral Lindy's voice buzzed in his ear. "Why haven't I had a report from Chrono-kun?"

"He's... Uh... Unable to communicate at this time. He appears unharmed." A quick scan later. "He is unharmed. Just unable to speak. You can beam us up."

It took two hours for the ship's medic to come to Harry for the counterspell.


	5. Chapter 5

Standard disclaimer goes here: I own nothing.

* * *

"Good news everybody."

"You're now hearing this in my voice." Harry snarked. He looked around at the blank faces. "No one? Must be a Western hemisphere, Earth thing. Don't mind me."

"The reinforced materials and cartridge systems have now been tested in a live fire exercise, and proven to be capable of standing toe to toe with the Velka knights. While it is true that the targets escaped, we not only have an accurate measure of their capabilities, but also forced the enemy to expend pages from the Book of Darkness. Harry was also able to put tracking spells on both Shamal and the unidentified masked individual."

"Yeah... About that. Shamal, or more likely her master, identified and removed my tracking spell. I wouldn't have expected it, but I don't understand the strengths and weaknesses of Belkan magic systems. As for the masked man, all I can tell you is that they left Earth. It might be a ship, it might be another planet, but my spell wasn't calibrated for extra-planetary movement, as all hypotheses pointed to a local, or at least naturalised, master of the cursed grimoire. If he returns to Earth, I'll be able to get a fix, as the spell is still active, but it's pointing nowhere useful right now."

"Knowing that at least one of them isn't based on non-administered world #97 is still helpful. Now on a possibly disconcerting note, the Wolkenritter seemed to have been exhibiting unusual behavioural patterns. In the past, the Wolkenritter have been cold, unemotional beings, tasked only with defence of their master, and collecting the pages of the grimoire."

"But Vita-chan was angry and sad at points yesterday." Nanoha said.

"And Signum clearly stated that she had something to do for her master." Fate added. "Which tells me it's something outside completing the book."

"We too came to that conclusion. We fear it may be a sign of a breakdown in the programming of the Book of Darkness. The only other conclusion is that the Book failed to bond to it's master correctly. Either way, treat the Wolkenritter as extremely dangerous. One of the changes may be an increased level of both independence and intelligence. Why this is a bad thing is obvious."

"What would an failed binding do to the host?"

"The incomplete Book of Darkness, improperly bound, would likely start eating into it's master's magic core, and possibly physical body."

"So... what about the ghost signature I was reading the other day?"

After a few moments considering leads... "It's as good an idea as any. Chrono-kun, Yuuno-kun, I want you two to meet up with Lieze Lotte and Lieze Aria, see about searching the Infinity Library. Harry-dono, if you would search for the ghost signature? Fate-chan and Nanoha-chan need to go to school, but if you would fly search patterns afterwards, on the look out for the Wolkenritter?"

Chrono. Yuuno, Nanoha and Fate all nodded. Harry paused, and asked; "Does the Infinity Library live up to it's name?"

"Thousands of shelves, self-updating, and fulled with books that are bigger on the inside. Every book published on every monitored world. Not just the administered worlds, all the monitored world."

"I might want to look through there myself one day, it's bound to have something even I can use. But I understand, the cursed grimoire comes before self-interested research."

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

From the Burrow, in Devon, Harry made a jump to Dover, on the side of the Channel, and from there, to France. He stretched wide, and smiled broadly. For the first time in his almost eighteen years, he was in a country outside Britain. And he'd not be going back, if he had any choice.

And, after all, as one of, if not the most powerful living wizard in Europe (he was prophetically marked as the equal of a rather powerful dark lord, whom was himself second only to Dumbledore after all), it would be rather difficult to force his return, because he wouldn't make it easy.

* * *

**End Flashback  
**

* * *

The same day, late afternoon...

"We have a report. A desert world, culture level 0. No intellegent life." An image popped up on screen. "Signum and Zafira. Signum is currently engaged in combat with a sandwyrm."

Fate looked down, at the same time Puppy!Arf looked up. "We'll go."

Even as she arrived, before the battle could properly commence, a second alarm went off. "Another world. Vita. She's alone."

Nanoha headed for the transporter.

"I'll stay and watch for Shamal and the masked man, shall I?"

Arf and Zafira, Fate and Signum, the screen jumped around just trying to keep them in focus. Harry wished he could hear what they were saying.

And then Vita unleashed something against Nanoha I'm sure I wouldn't want to hear, some kind of banshee's wail. As Vita backed off and began to create what I was coming to recognise as a dimensional gateway, Nanoha charged a long range Divine Buster.

On the other screen, Fate and Signum were both panting with exertion (and were doing things to Harry's hormones too, but that's besides the point.) As they both leapt forward for what looked to be all-or-nothing attacks, Fate was stopped cold. A hand was protruding from her chest. The focus zoomed out a bit, to reveal the masked man, doing almost exactly what Shamal had to Nanoha.

Speaking of which... Nanoha had just been put in a body bind, by... "That can't be right. Are both of these feeds live?"

Amy looked from one to the other. And began hammering away at her keyboard. "They're correct, Harry-sama."

He made a split second decision. "Set my 'port co-ordinates to Fate's location."

* * *

"Fate-san took quite a bit of damage to her magical core in the brief time it took for you to get there, but... It seems her life is in no danger. I guess we have you to thank for that, Harry-sama."

"Please, just Harry is fine."

"So her core was partially sucked up by the book of darkness, just like what happened with me?" Nanoha asked.

"It's a good thing Harry was on hand, or it could have been worse. A lot worse."

"That's not all." Amy said. "Shortly after the first alarm was issued, the Asura's control systems were hacked, issued an error, and shut down. Because of that, I couldn't issue commands or contact anyone of our other agents. I'm sorry, I'm responsible for what happened."

"No, you're not." Admiral Lindy gently admonished her. "Thanks to Harry's presence, and your timely actions, we were able to save Fate, and bring the Asura back online so quickly. Not only that, but you were also able to capture an image of the masked men. But it's strange. The control systems on the Asura are the same used in the ones we use in the Administration Bureau. is there really someone out there who could crack it from an external point?"

"You're right." Amy said, standing. "They went straight through the firewall and alert systems, and suddenly forced the system to go down... It's just a little hard to believe. I've since scrambled the unit files, but we need to devise a more powerful security system."

Nanoha got straight to the point. "Does that mean someone with incredible technological skills is out to get us?"

"I don't really see what this has to do with the investigation." Chrono said.

"Riiight..." Harry drawled. "The system just happened to get attacked at just the right time to prevent anyone calling for help to save Fate from those under investigation. Surely a coincidence."

"By the time I got there." Arf said, "Signum was holding Fate, as Harry faced the masked man. She said 'I have no excuse to give you, but I'm sorry.' The masked man fled, and Harry forced us to gate out, rather than try capture Signum."

"Again, tracking spells. I haven't had the time to rework the spells for interplantary tracking yet, but if either returns to Earth..." He closed his eyes. "She did... And it's gone. She was somewhere North of our position, but that's all I got. I'm going to go back out, see if I can find the ghost."

* * *

"Since he saved us, that means he's on our side... right?" Shamal didn't sound very certain.

"At the very least, the masked man wants to see the Book of Darkness completed." Signum was calm, at least externally.

"He might be planning to use it for his own purposes after it's completed." Zafira seemed the most stoic of all though.

"That's not possible." Vita protested, jumping to her feet. "Even if he stole it once it was completed, only its master can use it!"

"That doesn't prevent someone tricking or brainwashing her before it's completed though. Just in case, I think you ought to stay near her, Shamal."

As Shamal nodded her agreement, Vita voiced another concern. "Once the book is complete, Mistress will be happy, right? But why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?"

Shamal gasped. "Harry's device said that some of my memories had been erased."

Zafira growled. "And what cause do we have to trust him? He's just like the other TSAB flunkeys."

Vita shook her head. "Nanoha is a 'civilian consultant.' in her own words, and Harry didn't stop me when blondie chased me from the building."

Signum nodded. "He could easily have come after me and left Fate-san to her guardian beast. Instead he merely nodded and followed them through the Dimensional Gate."

"So... He's not with us, but he's not against us?" Shamal suggested. "I don't know what to think. He broke my digit, though the break was clean, but didn't attack when he could've had me at his mercy."

Zafira shook. "His goal is to prevent to prevent the completion of the Book. That puts him against us."

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

In France, Harry made a stop over in the Delacour house. Gabrielle Delacour, last seen at Bill and Fleur's wedding, was now an attractive fifteen year old young woman. And the first thing she did, when she saw Harry, was to turn her natural Veela allure up to full blast. Her allure was more potent than Fleur's had ever been, but Harry was pleased to note that he was capable of resisting her too. The only time Harry had ever really reacted to Veela had been the Quidditch world cup, back in '94, and that was an entire pack. A curious thing to be happy about, but these days, Harry took any happiness he could find.

The Delacour family were shocked when he told them about their Daughter's in-law's plot, and put him up for the night.

Gabby asked a vital question, which Harry hadn't even considered. "Was my sister wiz zem? Was Bill?"

Harry frowned. "No... Neither of them. They were involved in the battle at Hogwarts, but they weren't with the rest of the red-headed blackhearts. Do you suspect that they weren't part of plot?"

"I don't know about Bill, but I would like to think ze best of my sister."

"Then maybe you can do me a favour Gabby. Send word to Fleur, in the morning, to tell Bill that I was spotted in Ireland. If the clan Weasley mobilises to scour Scotland, one, or possibly both of Bill or Fleur cannot be trusted. I'll be heading East by the time your owl will reach her."

Gabby looked shyly at Harry through her bangs...

* * *

The next day, Harry left France, stopping off at Nuremburg Tower, the imposing obsidian structure that had been Grindelwald's prison for so many years. To his surprise, Hallow activated spontaneously.

And it hissed in Parseltongue. "=~Open~=" A stone wall lowered.

"What artifact gave you the gift of Parseltongue Hallow?"

"=Your own magical core, mi'lord.="

"Is that so? Oh well. [i]Lumos[/i]." Hallow, in it's form as a ring, lit up on harry's hand.

And so Harry explored the hidden room within the base of Grindelwald's tower. And came across a curious artifact. "The Vine-Blade of Salazar Slytherin? Why wasn't this in the room at Hogwarts with the other Founder's artifacts?"

"=The warding around this room is extensive, mi'lord.="

Slytherin's Vine-Blade was more of a whip than anything else, it was black as night, and the entire structure looked like flowing liquid. "Hallow, analysis."

A play of green light. "=Analysis complete, mi'lord. The blade is comprised of raw magic, given solid form. Absorption will produce no ill effects. Proceed?="

"Proceed, Hallow."

The arc of emerald light that played out over the blade seemed denser, thicker than it had been in the past. And the blade resisted Hallow's light. Slowly, the black blade lost colour, and as it was leeched, the faster the process became. As it lost the last vestiges of colour, the blade became glassine. Finally, it shattered into a million motes of green light. "=Complete, mi'lord.="

Fleur never told.


	6. Chapter 6

Standard Disclaimer goes here; I own nothing.

A/N: Before I get any (more) flames, nothing explicitly suggested anything, so don't ascribe motives to me, tyvm.

And even if something did occur, I'm going to fall back on the Fanon convention that (Part-)Veela age differently to humans.

* * *

Christmas arrived, and no new leads had been uncovered. The ghost signature was intermittent, and seemed to fade more the closer harry got. It was infuriating.

Neither Nanoha nor Fate had had any more luck, though Harry had finally succeeded in convincing them to drop the ridiculous '-sama' that they'd been tagging him with. And all it took was an intense three-way sparring session, involving an insane scythe vs sword fight, while both were dodging pink blasts, and barrages of yellow arrows meeting silver shields, followed up by a Nundu pitting itself against a Divine Buster. Then for desert, a Starlight Breaker met a Plasma Smasher met a Siegebreaker, the resultant interaction throwing all three spinning away, and all three waking up in the infirmary.

"Did anyone get the license of that Dragon?" Harry groaned out as he awoke.

Fate giggled weakly from the next bed over. "Welcome to Nanoha's Befriending program. Sometimes I think that's the only way she really makes friends."

"Hey." Nanoha protested equally weakly from the third bed. "I didn't try blow up Yuuno."

"Suzuka, Arisa, Me, Arf, Chrono, and now Harry. I suppose Vita's practically your friend too."

"It took more than one blast for you to come around." Nanoha moaned.

"Right. Well if we're _officially_ friends now, drop the honorific. The 'Lord's too. Harry, just Harry."

"Fate."

"Nanoha."

"Great."

"Can you teach us to do that animal thing?"

"I don't know how compatible it is with the Mid-Childian magic system, and I wouldn't want to disrupt that. I don't use your system, nor the Belkan one, with Hallow, so I can't tell. Though if you want to try, I can try teaching it."

"On another topic, you really love to fly, don't you?"

Harry smiled, even though the others couldn't see it. "I've been told I got my first broomstick at less than a year old. We use them to fly around on, back in my homeland. At age eleven, I was put on a school sports team, youngest player in a century. Flying is... Unlike anything else in the world. A sense of freedom I guess. So yeah, you could say that."

Nanoha's voice chirped from the far bed. "The freedom of being able to fly through the air is unlike anything else, I agree. It's like you can leave your problems behind. And I didn't even know about individual flight for twelve years, so I'm never going to take it for granted."

"Well spoken." Harry could barely stifle a yawn. "Healing takes a lot out of a guy, I guess."

"When we next wake, Nanoha, Harry. G'night."

Harry and Hallow were still experimenting with the modified Siegebreaker, and even working on harnessing Fiendfyre, knowing that one, or both, could be the key to putting a stop to the Cursed Grimoire. That, and modifying the various Founder's Artifacts that Hallow had absorbed. Next time Harry crossed weapons with a member of the Wolkenritter, or better yet, one of the masked men, he'd have some new tricks up his sleeves.

"Hallow, Set up. Serpent's Aegis. Raven's Edge. Serpent's Bite. Badger's Bulwark. Lion's Pride."

"=Your will be done, mi'lord.=" The familiar green snakeskin robe appeared, but the blue and bronze wings were sleeker, sharper, and edged. Rather than Gryffindor's sword, Slytherin's Vineblade made an appearance, brimming with raw magic. On his left arm, a shield of black and yellow. Golden gauntlets and greaves, with appearance of lion's claws, and on his collar, a ruff of golden armour, resembling a mane, all made their appearances.

"Serpent's Fang, _Incendius Diabolus_."

"=Fiendfyre.=" The Vineblade, an edged whip of pure magic, burst into cursed flame. The room he was practising in was self-contained with a vacuum, so, worst case scenario, he'd only obliterate himself and Hallow.

"This reminds me of Signum and Levantine." Harry murmured. "Since she too has a sword that turns into a whip. That said, I'm faster than her, while she's more heavily armoured. And we use different magic systems. Hallow, Serpent's Bite, Eight Fangs."

"=Yes mi'lord.=" The long vineblade separated into a shorter eight-tailed vineblades. "=Projection enabled="

As Harry cracked his newly-recreated whip, a fiend-fyreball flew from the end.

"Hallow, disable the Bulwark, active Raven's Feather."

The shield faded into emerald light, and the whip reformed into a bow last seen on a wall in Hogwarts. The arrow that formed, already nocked, bore the same diabolic fire that had characterised the whip.

"Hallow, quell the fiendfyre. _Malleus Maleficorum_."

"=Hammer of the Wizards.=" Harry's own modified variation of the Siegebreaker, manifested as a thick spear of glowing silver light. The raw magical properties of a Patronus, crossed with raw magical power of the siegebreaker. It would shatter any shield, any impediment, and cleanse the way.

"Quell. _Reducto_." The glowing silver arrow turned into a cluster of bright red ones. "_Bombarda_." The cluster turned orange. "_Ossieus Brakiem_" The bonebreaker cluster was a pale blue. "_Crucio_." The cluster turned into a single orange-brown arrow. "_Avada Kedavra_" Acid green. "_Consumption_." The black arrow, drawn from the work on fiendfyre, ate magic, but instead of fueling on cursed flames, it acted as a curse on the target, leeching their magic, leaving them, functionally speaking, as a squib. Sometimes it's better for your enemies to suffer, knowing their defeat, than to kill them outright. To kill an enemy is temporary, to force them to live in shame, eternal.

"Quell. Hallow, disable all." Harry cared not at all that his personally designed spells were incanted in english instead of psuedo-Latin, because it was only through Hallow that they were shaped. Neither he nor his device had incorporated wand movements, considering them entirely extraneous to requirements.

* * *

Harry was enjoying a Western-style pastry at the Midoriyama cafe, when he detected the ghost signature... and Fate and Nanoha were right on top of it!

Cursing the fact that he still hadn't picked up the trick to initiating a telepathic conversation, though he could hold his end once one was opened, he instead settled for sending a Patronus, the silver Nundu, to Admiral Lindy on the Asura, as he apparated to the Uminari city HQ. "Nanoha and Fate are about to converge on code Ghost. I don't know the area, so I can't jump directly to them, I need a beam."

Thankfully he received a telepathic linkage from Amy on the Asura a minute later. "Harry-san, a Barrier just went up.-" And there went his thankfulness. "-and the last we heard from Nanoha-san and Fate-san was that they were visiting a friend of a friend in the hospital."

"Could this friend's friend be the master, or mistress, of the cursed tome?"

"Unknown. We're going to beam you as near as possible to the hospital, but once you enter the area of the communication suppression field, we won't be able to track you."

"I understand. I'll get to the Hospital as soon as possible."

Harry was catching the edge of a conversation as he neared the hospital. "It's okay if I'm a devil." Nanoha's voice. "I'll just use my hellish tools to get you to listen!" From what he could gather, Nanoha and Fate had encountered the Wolkenritter, which only confirmed the theory that the mistress of the Book of Darkness was indeed the ghost.

"We guardian knights decided that we'd even throw away our honour to save our mistress' smile." Signum's declaration was a bit of a surprise to Harry, both in that the 'master' of the tome was infact a mistress, and that the Wolkenritter were apparently committed to something other than the tome's completion.

Then came the 'shouts' of surprise as both sides were caught in binds.

As Harry engaged his razor-bladed Raven's Edge, he was just in time to witness the two masked men, one surrounded by glowing cards, sustaining the bindings and barrier, the other bearing the cursed tome, leeching the magic from Signum and Shamal, with Vita hanging in a bind off to the left, while Nanoha and Fate were similarly bound, watching in horror.

As first Shamal, then Signum, was absorbed into the Book of Darkness, in their entirety, having originated within, Vita cried out, then subsequently demanded the names of the interlopers. Futilely, for their next action was to drain her core too. Even as Harry drew close enough to intercede, Zafira was incoming from the far side.

Even as Zafira bounced off a shell, Harry was drawing his Raven's Feather bow.

"There was a fourth one..." "=Absorption.=" The Book of Darkness began to draw from Zafira too. Perhaps being a guardian beast made him more resilient. Perhaps it was his will. But even with his strength being drawn away, he was still able to strike a final time, shattering the shell, halting the tome's processes, and, though Harry didn't know it at the time, awakening the Mistress as to the events.

As the blow was struck, and the shell shattered, Harry released his own strike. A set of lemon-yellow piercing hex-arrows fell upon their mutual foe.

A set of power words, another glowing blue card, and Harry found himself bound as the rest were.

A flash of light, and the mysterious mistress of the grimoire was upon the roof, and the mystery men took on the appearance of Nanoha and Fate. Zafira on the rooftop infront of her, Vita hanging between 'Nanoha' and 'Fate', while the real ones were suspending in a crystalline pyramid high overhead, and Harry bound and silenced nearby.

"You're very ill. Ill with the disease called the 'Curse of the Book of Darkness'." "It... can't be cured." The impostors spoke in identical eerie monotones. "Even if the Book of Darkness is completed, you can't survive." "You have absolutely no chance of surviving."

The mistress, who looked to be the same age as both Nanoha and Fate, if a little more frail and sickly-looking, spoke for the first time. "That's... fine. Let Vita go... What did you do to Zafira?"

"You mean these two?" "They're broken." "They were broken even before we did this." "They still thought they could use the function of the Book of Darkness..." "...Which were broken a long time ago, yet they continued with their futile efforts."

"What do you mean, 'Futile'?! Where are Signum and Shamal?!" The fake 'Fate' simply nodded to the rooftop behind the Mistress.

"Broken programs are useless." "We thought we'd erase them." An empty coat fluttered in the breeze.

"Huh? Wait! Stop!"

Harry broke the bindings, and summoned, prepared, and fired a cluster of bonebreaker arrows upon the fakes in a single motion. "Those aren't Nanoha and Fate!" Harry yelled.

The fakes smiled sinisterly, before they shimmered back to their normal appearances. Cards in hand, they declared. "If you want to stop us," "Do so with force."

The Belkan magic triangle, white in colour, appeared below the Mistress, even as she was on the ground. The cursed tome appeared in front of her. "=Good morning, Mistress.=" The white turned purple as the Mistress screamed in anguish.

The real Nanoha and Fate broke out from their confinement. "Hayate-chan!"

Hayate's outfit disappeared as she was cloaked in a column of purple energy. "I am the mistress of the Book of Darkness. Bring power to these hands of mine." The tome appeared in her left hand. "Seal, release." She gained a couple inches in height, and a size in the bustline, her hair lengthening and leeching of all colour, her eyes now red. Stripes delineated her cheeks and arms. Four black feathered wings erupted from her back as a black outfit appeared upon her.

The new, sinister Hayate spoke mournfully. "Everything's ended, once again. How many times must I repeat this sadness?"

"Hayate-chan!" "Hayate..." Nanoha and Fate spoke.

"I am the Book of Darkness. I will use all of my power..."

The tome, open infront of her, chimed as she raised her hand. "=Diabolic Emission.="

A roiling blue-black sphere of energy grew to an enormous size in mere moments. "...To grant my Mistress' wish."

As the three looked upon her, stunned...

"Diabolic Emission..."

"It's a spatial attack." Fate gasped.

"...Merge with the darkness." The sphere expanded again.

Nanoha shielded herself and Fate, while Hallow spoke. "=Badger's Bulwark.=" And the yellow and black shield sprung to life on Harry's left arm, enlarged to cover his entire profile.

"I wonder how long those three will last..." "I certainly hope until it starts going out of control, at least."

The masked individuals were then surrounded by points of magic. "Struggle Bind."

Chrono was floating behind the pair. "While restraining one's opponents, it dispells any strong magic that may be cast on them. It doesn't normally see much action, but in times like these... It can be quite useful... Because it forcefully cancels any transformation magic."

Lieze Lotte and Lieze Aria, Admiral Graham's twin cat-girl familiars, were revealed as the masked individuals. "Chrono, you..." "I don't remember teaching you this magic..."

"Didn't you teach me to continue studying and practising on my own, Aria, Lotte?"


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer; I own neither the Harry Potter nor Mahou Shojou Lyrical Nanoha series (and sequels).

* * *

Nanoha, Fate, and Harry had escaped the blast radius of the Book of Darkness' attack.

"Nanoha, I'm sorry... And thank you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"it looks like she's an expert with wide-area attacks. It'll be difficult to dodge all of her attacks... Bardiche."

"=Yes, sir. Barrier jacket. Lightning form.="

Harry handed Nanoha back her staff. "You'll need this."

Nanoha nodded. "Hayate-chan..." She said sadly.

Yuuno Scyra and Arf came flying up. "Nanoha!" "Fate!"

"Yuuno-kun, Arf-san." Nanoha greeted them.

"[i]Magical Prison.[/i]" The voice of Hayate's alternate form washed over the five, as did a wave of magic.

"What was that?" Nanoha asked.

"It's like last time. A barrier that keeps us trapped within!" Arf decried.

"Wasn't that Zafira's speciality?" Harry pondered.

Fate was the calmest, behind Harry. "It's as we thought... She's after us."

"Chrono's searching for a way to settle this." Yuuno replied. "Backup is also on the way, but there's still some time until they arrive."

"So we're on our own until then, huh?"

"We ought to be able to keep her occupied between us." Harry remarked. "Everything should be just fine."

Fate, the fastest and most inclined to melee of the three powerhouses, was going toe to toe with the Book. As they confronted each other, taking a momentary breather, Yuuno and Arf each deployed a binding, attempting to restrain her. With the amount of power at her/it's disposal, it was a futile attempt.

"Breaker." "=Breaker.=" The bindings were dispelled like they'd been created by a first year.

But the delay had given Fate enough time to prepare her next assault. "=Plasma smasher.=" "Fire!"

While from below; "=Divine Buster Extension.=" "Shoot!"

As the twin blasts of yellow and pink magics converged upon the incarnation of the tome... "Shield" "=Tank shield.=" From both hands, she deployed purple shields, halting the blasts in their tracks. "Bring forth spears and infuse them with-"

"=Fiendfyre.=" "Release!" The arrow of magic-consuming fire took on the appearance of a winged snake - an Occamy - and slammed right into the airborne form. Cracks spread across her shield, as the fire licked the perimeter. Mere moments later "_Malleus Maleficorum_." "=Hammer of the Wizards.=" "Release!" The pure silver of Harry's siegebreaker pummelled into the weakened shield - and straight through it! Within moments, the rest of the shield buckled, and the yellow and pink beams too collapsed upon her form.

As the smoke cleared however, she raised her hand to the sky. "I summon the light of destruction down upon my prisoners..." A white mid-childian circle appeared at her feet, and a pink one in front of her open hand. Motes of light, of magic, began to gather.

"It couldn't be..." "That's...!" Arf and Yuuno were the first to speak.

"Stars, gather... and become the light that pierces everything."

"Starlight... Breaker?" Nanoha gasped out in surprise. Understandable, as it was her own spellwork.

"Arf! Yuuno!" Fate snapped out, and the pair nodded and fled.

"Tear through everything in a blaze of light."

"To use Nanoha's magic...!" Arf said.

"Nanoha was absorbed by it before, it must have copied the move from her then!" Yuuno reminded her.

Meantime, Fate, Nanoha, and Harry took off in the other direction from Arf and Yuuno. They were the threats, so they'd be the targets, and the others would be safe. Relatively.

"Fate-chan... I don't think we have to go this far..."

"If we take that point-blank, it'll crush us even at the highest part of the barrier. We need to get as far away as we can to evade it!"

"Or as far as possible so that the energy disperses somewhat." Harry added. "The further it has to travel, the weaker it'll be when it hits."

"It'll still be plenty powerful even at the outer edge." Fate countered.

"I see you're not disagreeing though."

"I never said you were wrong."

"=Sir, there are non-combatants on the left at three hundred yards.=" Bardiche interrupted our conversation. While Fate's staff was, infact, that, a staff, Nanoha's Raging Heart and Harry's Hallow were both in gem form, to conserve aero-dynamic efficiency.

Fate's crimson eyes met Nanoha's violet, and then they both met Harry's emerald. All three nodded in concert. Turns out Harry's 'Saving-people thing' wasn't unique to Harry.

Fate dropped Nanoha at 50 yards to the targets, and her staff reappeared as she skidded to a landing on the tarmac. Fate alighted upon the traffic lights. Harry stopped dead in mid-air.

"=18.="

Nanoha was the first to see the non-coms. Who happened to be entirely muggle... mundane. Not a touch of magic to them. Why had the barrier captured them instead of filtering them out with everyone else? "Umm... Excuse me! This is a dangerous area, so please stay where you are!"

The pair turned around. "That voice just now was..." As the smoke from her skidded landing cleared... "Nanoha?" "Fate-chan?" That might be it. Nanoha and Fate had visited this... Hayate... with some friends after all.

As the pairs stared at each other... "Starlight Breaker."

Harry dived to the ground. Not directing his remark at anyone in particular; "Friends of yours?" His appearance shocked the four into action. Or perhaps it was the sudden surge of pink-tinted light that was launched their direction.

Nanoha turned to Fate. "-Can you take care of Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan?" "Yeah."

Fate turned to the non-coms. "Stay still you two." A cartridge loaded. "=Defenser plus.=" A yellow dome sprang into place. Fate then leapt infront of the pair and raised a round shield.

Nanoha raised her staff, which loaded two cartridges. "Raging Heart." "=Wide area protection.="

Internal debate led to Harry dropped in front of Fate, but behind Nanoha. Starlight Breaker was her spell, so her device was best for defending against it. "=Badger's Bulwark.="

Nanoha's two-cartridge enhanced shield took the brunt of the blast, while Harry's bulwark caught the majority of the stray magic whipping around the edges. Fate's plain round shield only had to negate a few refracted bolts.

"Nanoha, are you alright?!" "Fate?!" Yuuno and Arf's telepathy caught Harry off-guard, though his bulwark didn't falter.

"We're fine, but...! Arisa and Suzuka are... trapped inside the barrier!" Nanoha answered, still maintaining her shield.

Yuuno passed the message on to Amy on the Asura, whom assured them all that she'd beam them away from the danger as soon as the blast died down.

"Everythings alright now." Fate told the two after the blast finally ended. "We'll take you somewhere safe soon, so just sit tight a little longer."

The mundanes rose to their feet. "Umm... Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan..." "Hey! What's-" The white glow of the Asura's teleportation circle spread around them, at which point they promptly disappeared.

"They saw us like this, didn't they?"

"Yeah..."

"Little hard to miss."

* * *

**Flashback**

* * *

From Germany, Harry caught a muggle airplane to Japan. Anyone tracking his magical signature would hit a dead-end, and no one would expect Harry to have taken a flight half-way around the world. The trail would go cold.

The 'why' was obvious. In Germany's equivalent to Diagon Alley, Harry had spotted a poster that offered a reward for 'information leading to the recovery of Harry James Potter.' At least it wasn't capture, like he was an escaped convict, but it wasn't even return, like you would a missing person. It was Recovery! Like he was nothing more than an object, a piece of salvage! Best guess, the Weasleys were behind it, and that meant that the 'reward' would probably come out of Harry's own purse, as soon as they got their claws back into him. No way in hell would he let that happen.

Drawing up his hood, he entered the store. "What's the deal with the posters?" Harry asked, his german flawless, thanks to Dumbledore's last gift.

"Bloke who killed some British dark lord criminal went awol, and his fiancée supposedly went spare at their minister of magic." The shopkeeper snorted in derision. "I think if a bloke clears out his vaults and takes off, he probably didn't want to get married anyway."

Harry laughed uneasily. "I was in France recently, just across the channel from them. The way I heard it, the guy got out from under some love potions or something, and bailed out before they could dose him again."

The shopkeeper snorted again. "Likely story." The sarcasm in his voice was evident. "But if that were true, all the more power to him."

Harry briefly lowered his hood and winked. "Every word." He dropped a Galleon on the counter. "And I wasn't here."

* * *

**End Flashback**

* * *

After Yuuno and Arf promised to protect Arisa and Suzuka, Yuuno then relayed Chrono's message to try and make the Book surrender. Fat chance, in Harry's opinion. It had just tried to kill them all, asking nicely was hardly going to convince it.

Didn't stop them trying. "Hayate-chan and the Book of Darkness... Please stop this! We aren't the ones that hurt Vita-chan and the others! Signum and the rest... We...!"

"My mistress wishes that this world... the world that took away her loved ones, be turned into nothing more than a nightmare. I am simply granting that wish. My master is in an eternal slumber within her gentle dreams. And as for those who opposed her precious knights... Eternal darkness."

"Book of Darkness-san." What? Nanoha was using honorific for a grimoire now?

"So... You also call me by that name."

Nanoha gasped, and the street opened beneath us. From the cracks in the street suddenly sprang sandwyrms, wrapping themselves around their forms.

"But that is fine... I am only here to grant my mistress' wish."

"Only here to grant her wish? Will Hayate-chan really be happy if you grant this wish?! Keeping your heart locked away and being nothing but a tool to grant your mistress' wish, with no feelings of your own... Are you really okay with that?!"

"I am a magical tome. I am nothing but a tool."

"But you can use words, can't you?! You have a heart, don't you?! It would be too weird if you didn't! If you didn't have a heart, you wouldn't be crying right now!"

"These tears are my mistress' tears. I am a tool. I have no... sadness."

"Barrier jacket, Bardiche." "=Sonic form.=" With the loading of a cartridge, a burst of raw magic reduced the sandwyrms to dust. "You have no sadness? You say those words with such a sad face... Who would believe you?! You also have a heart! It's okay to admit that you're sad! Your mistress - Hayate-chan - Will surely answer to that! She's a really kind girl. So, please release Hayate."

Instead of answering Nanoha and Fate's heartfelt pleas, the street rumbled, and plumes of fire erupted into the sky. "That was fast." The book remarked. "I've already started to break apart... Soon I will lose consciousness... Once that happens, I will go berserk. While I still have my consciousness, I want to grant my mistress' wish." "=Bloody Dagger.=" Red dagger appeared, surrounding each of them. "Sink... into darkness."

"=Lion's Rage.=" Gryffindor's living-silver sword, golden gauntlets, greaves, and collar appeared, while Harry's entire barrier jacket turned gryffindor-red. "This ends now."

"You spoiled brat!" Fate snarled. "=Sonic Drive.=" "Listen." "=Ignition.=" "To what we have to say!"

Harry and Fate both leapt skywards, towards Hayate and the Book, sweeping out to the left and right respectively.

"You should also sleep within me." It remarked, just as Fate struck head on, and Harry swung laterally. Twin belkan-style seals stopped both blows, and in twin flashes of yellow and emerald-green light, Fate and Harry disappeared.

"=Absorption.="

"Everything will fall into a tranquil slumber."


	8. Chapter 8

Standard disclaimer still applies. That's not going to change.

A/N: And I manage to incorporate the HP Epilogue into the story. For the lulz.

As for not changing the storyline overly much - it's like adding an extra character into the third act of a play - the stage is set, the (rest of the) cast in play, the long-term plots in motion... All that you change are the small details.

If I adapt Strikers... Then we'd see big changes.

* * *

"Amy-san?!"

"Verifying current situation! Their vitals show that they're both still in good condition. They've simply been trapped with the Book of Darkness! Currently formulating a way to release them!"

"My mistress and your allies will never awaken from their endless dreams. Dreams that lie between life and death... They are eternal."

"Nothing is eternal. Everyone changes. They have to! I have to... And so do you!

* * *

The morning of September the first was crisp and golden as an apple. Two large cages rattled on top of laden trolleys, and the owls contained within hooted indignantly. The red-headed girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too." Harry told her. And blinked. Last he could recall...

"Two years," sniffed the little red-haired, green-eyed girl. "I want to go now."

The crowd in the station stared curiously at the owls, and Harry simply followed the lead of the other trolley, as they wove their way towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. A boy's voice, one Harry felt like he ought to know, while at the same time, he knew he'd never heard it before, drifted back to Harry over the surrounding clamour.

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!"

"James, give it a rest!" Said the red headed woman pushing the other trolley. Harry had a feeling that he _did_ know this woman, but she shouldn't have...

As disjointed thoughts circled inside Harry's head, they pushed the trolleys through the barrier to emerge onto Platform 9 3/4, which was partially obscured by the thick, white steam pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express.

The vapour was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud. Continuing to follow the familiar red headed stranger, a group of four people emerged from the mists, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry and the others had drawn level with them.

"Parked alright then?" Another familiar stranger, a red headed man asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to confound the examiner."

"No I didn't," Said the familiar stranger named Hermione. If this was the Hermione Harry knew, she was a lot older than he'd last seen her. About twenty years, if Harry was any judge. "I had complete faith in Ron."

Ron, if this was in fact the backstabbing traitor, leaned in and whispered. "As a matter of fact, I did confound him. I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, we have super-sensory charms for that."

Harry was now seriously confused. The events didn't seen to match up with his memories. Something just wasn't adding up. Like taking seven books, but getting eight movies in return.

"No pressure Hugo, but if you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disown you."

"Ron!" Hermione said, scandalised. "He doesn't mean it." She temporised a moment later.

Lost in his thoughts, Harry mused. If these were Ron and Hermione, which would imply that she'd returned from Australia AND for some strange reason, returned to the potion dosing git, then the red headed woman he'd arrived with would be... No, surely not.

Catching another hint of the conversation; "don't get too friendly with him though Rosie, Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

The kid they were talking about appeared to be a carbon copy of a young Draco Malfoy. Which, of course, made the man next to him Draco himself. Odd. Harry'd heard that Draco and his entire family had scarpered from Britain, as he had.

Still only half-paying attention to the conversations around him, he tried recall what he'd been doing just ten minutes ago. It was terribly important, but it was like a word on the tip of the tongue, a sensation just beyond the fingertips.

"You interrupted them James?!" Ginevra, if it was her, shrieked. "You are just like your uncle Ron." If Ron was this 'James'' uncle, then the harridan was Ginevra. The Potioneering bitch of a Weasley.

"I don't mind sharing with Al-" 'James' said, before Potion-bitch cut him off.

"James Sirius Potter, you will only ever share a room with Albus Serverus if we want the house demolished." Harry snorted. This clearly was a dream. James Sirius, Harry could understand. Honouring his father and godfather. But Albus Serverus? The man that had jerked him around ten-thousand times, dropping vague and infuriating hints, and had only ever gifted him the language memories without strings attached? And only after he had no use for them himself at that. Not only that, but then to also honour the man that had set up his parent's deaths and made six years of his life hell, constantly belittling and insulting him, mind-raping him... This wasn't a dream, but a nightmare -

_"My mistress wishes that this world - the world that took away her loved ones - be turned into nothing more than a nightmare. I am simply granting that wish."_

- This _was_ a nightmare. He - and Fate - had attacked the Book of Darkness head-on. It had done something, some spell with the Book, and now Harry was living a nightmare.

He shook his head. The train station was suddenly empty... All except for the little red headed, green-eyed girl. She curtsied, and handed him Hallow. "Lily Luna Potter, father. The girl that will never be. I do wish that you could have found this happiness in reality too..." A flash of white light, and she was gone.

* * *

"Nanoha! I'll put this as simply as I can. If you can do what I'm about to say, all our friends should be able to get outside! I don't care how you do it, but his that girl with as much magical damage as you can! All of your power! Don't hold back!"

"Just what I expected, Yuuno-kun! Easy to understand!"

"=You sure said it.="

"Excelion Buster, Barrel Expansion! Midrange Firing Mode!"

"=All right, Barrel Shot.=" Nanoha's staff extended, for stability, and three 'wings' of raw, cherry-blossom pink energy erupted from the other end. A blast of pure magic, so pure that it transcended colour, hit at the Book of Darkness.

* * *

"Hallow, it's time to blow this joint. Let's try something a bit different. Lion's Fang, [i]Malleus Maleficorum[/i]."

"=Understood, mi'lord.="

"Atagirl." His hand out in front of him, the hilt, then the entire Sword of Gryffindor formed. But this time, the Claymore (for that was the form it took), was not goblin-silver, but a silver mist of raw magic, almost like the blade itself was a Patronus. More accurately, the entire blade was the 'Hammer of the Wizards' - Harry's Siegebreaker.

"Hammer of the Wizard! _Malleus Maleficorum_!"

* * *

"Hurricane Thunderclap! Sprite Zanber!"

* * *

"Excellion Buster, Force Burst! Break Shoot!"

As an enormous sphere of pink magic engulfed the stricken defense program of the Book of Darkness, a beam of yellow magic tore into the sky, and a shockwave of silver magic rippled outward.

Harry turned. The brilliant pink light had diminished to a point. In the sky, directly above said point, was the black-clothed, blonde-haired teen, Fate. On the far side of the point, the ivory-clad auburn-haired, Nanoha. Behind her, Yuuno and Arf.

"Fate!" Arf called out. It was expected that she'd only have eyes for her master, but that Harry wasn't even acknowledged stung a tiny bit.

Harry flew up and well over the point of pink magic. It contained, for this moment, the essence of the Book of Darkness. No telling when it might make a life-sized reappearance, or worse, so better to give it a wider berth. Fate nodded to Harry, and he nodded back.  
Her device/weapon was currently in the form of a sword, an enormous blade of golden energy, with a black hilt, with the Yellow gem that was the heart of her device embedded within. Harry's was an enormous blade of silver energy, the entire hilt having a greenish hue, cast from the Green gem that was the heart of his device, floating in place.

"Nice sword." They said simultaneously. He chuckled, while she giggled briefly.

Then, for lack of a better expression, the world trembled. "It's not over yet." Fate began.

"Now the real fight begins." Finished Harry.

From the pink point of light, a white point shot forward, towards the watching mages, while the main body turned into an enormous mass of inky purple darkness, throbbing with malice. A wave of tentacles and sandwyrms burst from the sea (the latter seeming out of place, naturally).

Admiral Lindy's voice rang clear in everyone's head. "The mistress of the Book of Darkness has completely separated herself from the defense program!"

"Understood." Came Amy's voice. "Everyone, that dark mass beneath you is where it'll start going beserk. Until Chrono-kun arrives, don't recklessly approach it."

"Uhh... Okay." "Understood." "Mmhm."

Silence reigned for a minute. "Is it just me, or did we somehow manage to co-ordinate our breakouts, entirely independently, simultaneously with Nanoha's devastator?"

"I was in a dream, with my kind mother and the sister I never met, and we went to the park and watched the storm. It was ideal, but I knew it wasn't, and couldn't, be real. I, and Bardiche, went to my mother's throne room, and we broke through to the real world. That's all I know, no tangible delay."

"Sounds like you got a dream. I had a nightmare. Then again, the Wolkenritter is part of the Book, and I dare say I made at least one enemy. I was taking the children I never had, along with their mother, a witch I despise, to the train station to send them to school. My traitorous former friend was their too, and married to my only real friend from school. They wouldn't have worked in a marriage any more than the addled fangirl/black widow and I would've. Basically no one was as they are. One of my 'children' was named after two of the men that made my life hell. Why would anyone do that?" I knew it couldn't be real, so I went to the great hall of the castle I spent my best years in, and Hallow and I shattered the veil of illusions."

The others shrugged. "It's possible that your breakouts were part of a stasis until Nanoha's own broke it down."

The bright white orb suddenly manifested four smaller, coloured orbs at the four cardinal points. Orbs in Green, Red, Purple, and a pale blue that was almost white itself, but not quite. Then the truly white orb transformed into a column, nearly blinding in it's intensity. As it faded back to a smaller orb, the four lesser orbs had resolved themselves into the Wolkenritter, reborn.

"Vita-chan!" "Signum!"

"We are the guardian knights who gather before our mistress, she of the Night Sky." Signum said ritualistically.

Shamal took up the intonation. "As long as our mistress exists, our souls will never extinguish."

Zafira took over. "As long as we have life in our bodies, we will stand by each other."

Vita for the finish. "We will always exist before our mistress, Queen of the Night Sky, Yagami Hayate."

Hayate's voice rang out from the white sphere. "Reinforce, bestow upon me my staff and armour."

"=Yes.="

The sphere shattered, and the group saw the new and improved Hayate for the first time. She had a sleeveless black top/skirt on, with white and gold trimmings, and she bore a staff with a cross on the top. The same cross that marked the tome that floated above her left hand.

"Light of the Night Sky, come to my hand! Blessed Wind, Reinforce. Set Up!"

The staff pulsed, the black energy still circling it washed away in a white brilliance. Her barrier jacket manifested, a dark blue hipskirt, white jacket, matching hat, blonde hair, for some reason, and six wings, reminiscent of the four the defense program had. Her eyes were pure blue, with no discernible pupils.

Then the Wolkenritter began to apologise for completing the flawed tome without her knowledge. She forgave them without reservation, though. Harry wasn't sure if he'd have been quite so forgiving.

Fate and Nanoha immediately flew to their friends and former opponents. Harry hovered a little beyond them, not sure if he was welcome.

"Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, Harry-kun, I'm so sorry. My children have caused you so much trouble."

"Not at all." Nanoha said, shaking her head.

"It's fine." Fate added.

Harry gave a brief shrug. "Let bygones be bygones."

Then Chrono intruded. "Sorry about this... I'm going to have to rain on this parade, but... I'm officer Chrono Hallaoun from the Time-Space Administration Bureau. We don't have much time, so I'll keep the explanation to a minimum. That dark mass over there..."

Hayate interrupted. "Is the orphaned defence program of the former Book of Darkness, and is about to go berserk. What's your plan?"

He huffed. "The first is an extremely powerful freezing magic. The second is to obliterate it using the magical cannon on our warship, the Asura, which is currently on standby in orbit. Does anyone else have another idea? I wanted to check in with the Mistress of the Book of Darkness and the Wolkenritter before we made a decision."

Shamal raised her hand. "The first will be quite difficult. The orphaned defense program is like a mass of condensed magic."

Signum picked up. "Even if you do freeze it, it's reincarnation cycle won't end while it's core is intact."

Vita added her two cents. "The Arc-en-ciel isn't any good either! If you fire it here, Hayate's house will also get blown away!"

Harry chuckled. "I'm with red on this. Collateral damage would be excessive."

"What was that?!" Vita was riled.

"Calm down Vita-chan." Hayate said. "He's just a barbarian."

Harry put on his best upper-class Oxford tone. "I resent both the implications and your impugning of my honour, dear lady." Then he laughed and completely spoiled the effect. "But yes, I am deliberately messing with you Vita. And while I'm on the topic of making amends... Shamal, I am sorry for the harm I deliberately wrought upon your person, not only physically, but emotionally, and thus humbly beg for you not to think too poorly of me."

Shamal laughed lightly, a pleasant tinkling laugh. "We weren't exactly on the same side at the time Harry. As you yourself said, let bygones be bygones."

"Back on topic." Chrono said. "The Arc-en-ciel?"

"Is it as powerful as Vita-chan said?" Nanoha stammered out.

"It's a magical cannon that distorts the very air surrounding it, and consumes everything up to hundreds of kilometres away." Yuuno interpreted.

"Umm... I'm also against using that then!"

"Me too! I'm definitely against it!" Fate added.

"The Admiral doesn't want to use it either." Chrono said. "But if that thing goes truly berserk, it will cause far more collateral damage than the cannon ever could."

"Once it goes out of control, it devours everything it touches, and increases infinitely in size." Yuuno said.

"Aren't you a ray of sunshine."

Amy's voice rang out. "15 minutes until that thing hits critical mass! You'd better decide something quick!"

Chrono turned back to the Wolkenritter. "Any ideas?"

"I'm sorry," Signum said. "I don't think we can be all that useful here..."

"If we don't stop it... I don't really want Hayate's house to get obliterated either."

"We're not really talking damage on a small scale here."

"If we could move the battle further offshore?"

"Even if we're over open ocean, the distortions would still cause victims..."

"That'd be worse than in the harbour here. If we're lucky, you'd cause a tidal wave, which would still, unfortunately, take out Hayate's place. If we're unlucky, we'd shift a tectonic plate, and we can added earthquakes _and_ volcanic eruptions to the tidal waves."

"Argh. Everyone's so annoying with these unimportant complaints!" Arf said. "Can't we just blow it up together and finish it off already?"

"I dare say tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions might come under 'important'." Harry snarked.

"Blow it up... together..." Nanoha started.

"We can't fire the cannon here because there'll be too many victims." Hayate added.

"But if it's not here..." Fate trailed off.

The three looked at each other.

"Chrono-kun. Can the Arc-en-ciel be fired anywhere?"

"Like where?"

"Where the Asura is right now!" Fate declared.

"In orbit. In outer space." Hayate clarified.

"Of course we can fire it up here." Amy said. "In outer space, or anywhere else for that matter."

"Hey, wait a sec you guys, you can't be planning to..."

The three teen-aged girls nodded.


	9. Chapter 9

Standard disclaimer, unchanged from previous.

* * *

Admiral Lindy's voice came through. "What to say here... As always, they're quite amazing in many respects..."

"From the numerical calculations alone, it's kind of scary. To put things in perspective, we're looking at Harry's 100, Nanoha's 65, Fate's 60, and now this Hayate's 70. That's pretty much twice the power of the Asura's entire crew combined. And then the Wolkenritter, whom answer to Hayate, on top of that. They might actually be able to do it... Chrono-kun, we're on standby here! Ten minutes until it reaches critical mass!"

"It's a very risky plan that relies on all of our powers, but it's worth trying!"

Hayate took up the lead. "The defence program's barrier is composed of four layers of physical and magical protection. First, we have to destroy that."

Fate took up the thread, turning to Shamal. "Once we break through the barriers, we'll need you to expose the core while we deal with the main body."

"Then, by combining all our transference magic, teleport it in front of the Asura!"

"And then we just have to fire the Arc-en-ciel." Admiral Lindy added.

"If everything goes to plan, we have the best possible method." Amy added.

"It's time to fight for the present, and change the future!" Chrono rallied.

"Two minutes until it goes berserk." Amy briefed the team.

"Umm... Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, Harry-kun... Shamal?"

"You want me to heal them, right? Klarer Wind, time to do what you do best!"

"=Yes.="

"Tranquil Breeze, carry forth a blessing of healing!" A shimmer of spring-green magic washed over the three, easing their collective aches, pain, scratches and bruises. "I am Shamal, the Knight of the Lake, and this is the Ring of Breezes, Klarer Wind. Curative spells are our speciality."

"This is amazing. Thank you very much, Shamal-san!" nanoha was effusive with her thanks.

"Much 'ppreciated." Harry said. What he didn't say was that he wasn't convinced that their plan would go off all that smoothly.

Yuuno, Arf, and Zafira were bunched up together. "We're the ones who'll support you. We'll be sure to stop that annoying barricade in front of it." "Yeah." "That's right."

Plumes of darkness rose from the sea.

"It begins."

"The Tome of the Night Sky... and the program that made it known as the 'cursed Book of Darkness...' The darkness of the Book of Darkness."

The black energy fell away, to reveal a monstrosity. Six limbed, chitinous, with a wide collection of mismatched fangs displayed in an eternally gaping maw, and a figurehead maiden that caterwauled like a banshee. And a great many tentacles.

"Chain Bind." "Struggle Bind." Each Arf's and Yuuno's spells cut through several tentacles. "Restriction, Steel Yoke." Zafira's carved a vast swath. He smirked.

"Your timing better match mine, Takamachi Nanoha."

"You too, Vita-chan!"

"I'm Vita, the Iron Hammer Knight, with the Iron Count, Graf Eisen!"

A cartridge was loaded. "=Giant form.="

"Roaring Smash!" As Vita brought the hammer down, the first of the four barriers fell to her blow.

"Takamachi Nanoha and Raging Heart Excelion, on our way."

"=Load Cartridge.= One, two, three cartridges loaded.

"Excelion Buster!"

"=Barrel Shot.=" Again, a colourless blast of magic. "Break... Shoot!" And boom went the second Barrier.

"Next are Signum, Potter-sama, and Testarossa-san." Shamal said.

And then Signum combined her sheath with her sword, and Harry groaned. "A sword, a whip, and a bow? Talk about overlap. At least I still have my magic."

"Storm Falcon!" The third Barrier fell.

"Harry and Hallow, doing our part. Hammer of the Wizard! _Malleus Maleficorum_!" "=Siegebreaker="

A blast of silver light, and the fourth and final Barrier fell. 'And that felt too easy...'

"Fate Testarossa and Bardiche Zanber going now!" Another three-cartridge load. "Strike through it, Thunder Blade!" "=Zeus Zanber="

And the program was cleaved in twain. From the ocean depths, more tentacles arose, and began to charge up for a firestorm.

"I am the guarding shield beast, Zafira. I won't let you fire anything!" A myriad of white spikes, skewering each and every tentacle.

"Hayate-chan!" Shamal called.

"Approach from the beyond, mistletoe branches, and become spears of the silver moon! Pierce it!" A cluster of white appeared near the program. "Stone spears, Misteltein!" With a white glimmer, seven spears of light penetrated the body of the program, and where they touched, the program began to petrify.

Then, from the petrified regions, new mass burst forth.

Harry snorted. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy."

"What is that thing?" Arf exclaimed.

"This is certainly turning into something incredible..." Shamal agreed.

"As I thought, average attacks like these won't work!"Amy's news was never more unwelcome. "It'll just regenerate where the damage was inflicted!"

"But the attacks are getting through to it!" "We're not giving up on this plan!"

"Let's do this, Durandal." Chrono and his staff of freezing made their debut. "=Okay, boss.=" "Permafrost, construct a frozen coffin and deliver eternal sleep unto this beast." The sea around the program froze, and frost began to creep up it's extremities. "Freeze!" "=Eternal coffin.="

The frost accelerated. Just when everyone thought it might have worked... The program broke free, and became even uglier. And it began to grow in size, and gain extra appendages.

Harry growled. "Primal fire that consumes all. _Incendius Diabolus_!" "=Fiendfyre.="

A roaring lion, composed entirely of flames, charged down the grotesque being. But as it charged, it swelled to an enormous size, until it was on par with the rogue program. The ocean around the firey beast began to boil. Unfortunately it wasn't destroying the program, it didn't have enough power for that, but it was consuming it as quickly as the program could regenerate.

"Let's do our thing now, Fate-chan, Hayate-chan, Harry-kun!"

"=Starlight Breaker=" "Everything, right now!"

"Lightning Flash! Plasma Zanber!"

"I'm so sorry." Hayate murmured. "Good night." Her gaze firmed. "Resound, Horn of Judgement! Ragnarock!"

Harry prepared what he hoped would be his final blow, even as the fiendfyre lion continued to savage the off balance fiend. "Patronus Maxima!"

Four simultaneous cries of "BREAKER!"

Maelstroms of yellow, pink, cyan, and silver magic all struck the defence program together. As the beams tapered off, a coruscating beam of red and blue light pierced the sky, quickly followed by rings of light of all colours and no colour.

"Main core, show yourself." Shamal focused. "I've... Got it!"

Shamal, Yuuno, and Arf co-operated to engage a gigantic 'Long Distance Transfer'

"Arc-en-ciel, barrel expansion! Firing Lock System, open. Confirm firing lock, and reposition the ship to a safe position! Start the preparations!"

The ugliest SOB off Earth appeared in front of the Asura.

"Arc-en-ciel... Fire!" Everyone awaited the result with baited breath. "All objects in the firing zone have been completely atomised. Reincarnation reactions... Non-existent! Good work everyone, the situation has been taken care of!"

A cacophony of cheers, even as Harry dispelled the fiendfyre beast that had served him well.

"And just the clean-up to go. But... For now, you should all return to the Asura and take a well deserved rest."

And Hayate fainted.

* * *

Harry had been assigned to watch Hayate's bed. He understood why, on an intellectual level, at least after the conversation with Chrono, on behalf of the Book of- the Tome of the Night Sky's admin program. Her concern over the automatic repair function restoring the defence program protocols certainly was a distressing thought.

Especially once the admin program explained that the resurgence of the defense program could result in a return of Hayate's core being consumed. She was advocating her own destruction. Her assurances that the Wolkenritter would remain could at least ease Hayate's distress. The admin asked only that two casters ensure that she 'returned to the night sky'. Harry had offered, being both the most powerful of the three waking top-rank mages, and emotionally divorced from the situation, but both the Admin, and Nanoha and Fate, insisted they be the ones to do it. The Admin program, 'Reinforce', insisted that Nanoha and Fate had been the ones to clear the veil from her eyes, to let her hear Hayate's words, so, even though Harry had the power, it was more the emotional connection.

And Harry had been tasked with keeping Hayate from 'undue emotional distress.' To Harry, it sounded exactly like the lines Dumbledore used to use to justify Harry's lock up at Durzkaban. So while Harry understood his assignment, he didn't give a rat's ass about seeing it kept to. Instead, Harry intended, if Hayate woke in time, to apparate her there himself. He hadn't demonstrated that trick personally yet, so they wouldn't be expecting it.

"=Are you certain this is a good idea, mi'lord?="

"I would've liked to say goodbye to my parents, to Sirius, to Remus and Tonks... Reinforce is one of the closest things Hayate has to a family."

"=I understand mi'lord.="

* * *

"=Ready to set.=" "=Stand by.="

"Yes... I was in your care too, if only for a short while."

"=Don't worry.=" "=Take a good journey.="

"Yes."

A double *Crack* of side-along apparition. Harry and Hayate, his arm around her waist, hers over his shoulder, Harry taking most of her weight.

"Reinforce! Everyone!"

Vita made as to close with Hayate, but Reinforce snapped out at her to stay put.

"Reinforce, stop! You don't have to destroy yourself! I'll suppress it! It'll be fine! you don't have to do this!"

"Mistress Hayate... It's fine."

"No, it's not! It's not fine at all!"

"I've lived a long time, many times over, but in the end, I received a beautiful name and heart from you. The knights will remain by your side, so there is nothing to worry about."

"I'm not talking about being worried or anything-"

"So please, I will depart smiling."

Harry cleared his throat. "I'm just going to say one thing. Reinforce, Nanoha, Fate... Raging Heart and Bardiche too... I'm disappointed in the lot of you. Were you even going to give Hayate the opportunity to say goodbye?"

"I didn't- I didn't want to cause mistress Hayate any more distress."

"You may not have known her for as long, in this form, that is, but it was through you that she gained anything resembling a family at all. People that she could care for, and whom care for her in turn, and you were going to simply disappear? She hasn't had the easiest life to date, and I can empathise, but she still deserves a chance to say goodbye. Would you rather give her a sense of closure, or heartbreak?"

They hung their collective heads, even the gems of the intelligent devices dulling. "Don't grieve for me, mistress Hayate. We might have only been together for a short time, but even for that short time, I was the happiest tome alive." Reinforce held her hand against Hayate's cheek for a moment, then returned to the centre of the sealing ritual, tears running down her cheeks, and a smile on her face.

Harry could feel Hayate's knees growing weaker, even though he was taking most of her weight, so he bobbed down just long enough to pick her up properly, bridal carry style. He promptly refused to put her down until she could be put back in bed.

"Though I leave you now, part of my power will stay with you, and, one day, a part of me will be reborn, and we shall meet again." And reinforce departed into the light.

"Did you mean what you said, Harry-kun? About Reinforce and family?"

"Let me tell you a story. It's not a pretty story, and I won't burden you with all the details. When I was yet a babe, only a little over a year, my parents were killed. Yes. Like you, I am an orphan. Until I turned eleven, I lived with my aunt and her family. I was fed little, and worked like a dog. They hated me, and I hated them. I went away to boarding school at eleven. When I was thirteen, I met one of the two men that were like brothers to my father. When I was almost fourteen, I met my godfather for the first time I could recall. The other of these not-quite-brothers. I only had the one night to get to know my godfather at that time, because he was on the run, an escapee from prison, for a crime he was framed for. He was killed before I turned sixteen, and I only ever spent a couple months with him, but he was the closest thing to a father I've ever known. The other man was like an uncle to me, and he too died before I turned eighteen. My cousin, on my father's side, whom I met at fifteen, married that man. She died the same night he did. That's a mother and father I cannot remember, a father figure I only got a couple months with, and an 'uncle' and a cousin, neither of whom I knew much better. The man I once treated as a brother for seven years? He was plotting my death, along with his family, including my ex-girlfriend, to get their hands on my money. The woman that was as a sister to me? She fled the country the same day I did."  
Hayate sobbed gently. Harry continued to speak though. Even an abridged account was a catharsis. "But Reinforce gave you a mother figure, Shamal, a protective older brother, Zafira, an aloof older sister, Signum, and a younger sister in Vita. They care for you as much as you do for them, and they are willing to, and did, give their very lives to keep you smiling. And Reinforce promised to return to you, in some form, so it's not so much 'good bye' as 'see you soon'. I envy you your closeness, yet I am not aggrieved of my own life, for I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I will see them again in the next life. So I shall live this one to the fullest, and regale them with tales of my exploits whence I finally do. So live, and love, and make the most of the life you have." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, entirely platonically, for their mutual grief. "And without the drain of the defence program, your limbs will gain the strength so long denied, and you will be up and about as easily as anyone. You will have your friends, your family, and your health. Do not lock yourself away, but overcome."

She wiped away her tears. "Thank you Harry. I think that's what I needed to hear." She shook herself and turned red. "Not that I find comfort in your loss. I just..."

"Know that you are not alone, and that other people understand what you're going through. Sadness shared is sadness halved."

"What about you? You weren't born in this country, and you have no roots here. Will you return to your own?"

"No! I mean, I swore never to return to the country of my birth. I was thinking of maybe doing something with the TSAB. Nanoha and Fate both have more than enough power to take the same option, and you have more than either of them. Not quite a much as I do, but then again, you have your family to back you up. Now let's put you back in bed. Sooner you heal, the sooner you can be up and about under your own power."

"If you ever need a place to stay, my door will always be open to you."

"I'm two and a bit years older than you, it's hardly appropriate." Harry winked. Then laughed when Hayate flushed. "Besides, I'm rather well off, I could buy an entire housing complex on a whim, and not even dent my finances, if I felt like it.

* * *

If I do decide to write a StrikerS Arc, it'll be published as a separate fic. Until then, this is Chronopie, signing out.


End file.
